Hyderabad: Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) Managing Director Y Nagi Reddy has issued an ultimatum to the workers on strike on Wednesday, April 22, asking them to resume their duties or face disciplinary action, even as the unions remained unaffected by his threats.
In a statement to the media on the first day of the strike, Reddy urged the workers not to believe unofficial calls for the strike, either being made by the workers, union leaders or those published in the media and social media.
He stated that as per Section 22(1)(d) of the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947, if there is any dispute pending with the Conciliation Officer, it is a violation of the law to go on strike, and that when the discussions were taking place between the workers and the Joint Commissioner of Labour, the strike wouldn’t stand legally.
The TGSRTC chief warned that in such a scenario, there is scope for strict disciplinary action against the workers not adhering to the laws, which could have adverse impacts on their future as well as their families.
“The management is always ready to resolve the issues through discussions. The responsibility is on all of us to prevent inconvenience to the general public and uphold the pride of TGSRTC. Therefore, all the workers are requested to resume their duties,” he said.
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On the other hand, TGSRTC Joint Action Committee (JAC) chairman E Venkanna questioned why it was so difficult for the state government to merge the corporation with the state government, when a similar merger was effectively done in the case of acquiring the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) from Larsen and Toubro (L&T).
“The basic salary of electricity department employees is more than Rs 1 lakh, but in TGSRTC, it is less than Rs 50,000,” he pointed out.
He made it clear that unless the state government resolved all the demands of the TGSRTC workers, they would continue their indefinite strike.
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Meanwhile, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) offered his full support to the TGSRTC workers’ stir.
“They are only asking the state government to fulfil the promises made by the Congress in page number 28 of the Congress manifesto, which was prepared by its manifesto committee chairman D Sridhar Babu before the elections,” he said, addressing the media at Telangana Bhavan on Wednesday.
KTR said that the only thing pending regarding the merger of TGSRTC with the state government was to give an appointed date, from which they could avail the benefits of a state government employee, which, according to him, was not a major issue.
“We have respect for Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, but if he was made a scapegoat by being given this portfolio, it is nothing but pushing him under the bus,” KTR quipped.
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