The lightning protest was held by employees when talks with the government about their demands fell through Thursday.
Talks between transport union leaders and the Karnataka government held here failed to end the standoff between the two sides, prompting employees to launch a sudden protest on Friday, leading to the suspension of transport services. buses in various parts of Bengaluru.
The fact that the transport unions invited the recognized employee union and did not invite those who had called the strike created confusion for a day and forced the Karnataka government to list all the leaders who had called a sudden strike.
Affected bus services
With thousands of employees of state transportation corporations they continued their strike for the second day here on Friday pressing various lawsuits that resulted in the disruption of services.
Many government buses did not run due to the commotion from employees of transportation corporations demanding wages on par with state government employees, among others.
The city’s transportation system was severely affected as all buses operated by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transportation Corporation did not depart from the central bus stop, traffic and transit management centers in various locations, large bus stops and various deposits.
Many travelers, including students and passengers from other parts of the country, were stranded at the Central bus stop and other bus stops in the city due to the buses being kept off the roads due to the strike.
Passengers who had booked tickets on KSRTC buses to other parts of the state came to the bus stop only to find affected services.
At Yeshwanthpur in the city, employees who were on the move staged a unique protest by cooking food on the road and eating on the road in the sun.
Talks with the government fail
After the first round of meetings with union leaders and officials concerned here, Senior Deputy Minister Lakshman Savadi said they had invited the union leaders who officially lead recognized unions from these companies.
“We invited them and we had conversations according to the guidelines of the Supreme Court. But we have taken corrective measures by inviting the leaders who have called this strike on Saturday,” he said.
Savadi, who has the transportation portfolio, made another round of appeals urging employees to abandon their strike and return to work, as well as calling a leaders meeting again on Saturday to break the deadlock.
He assured the government employees considering their demands but at the same time also reminded them that the government had paid their salaries even during the lockdown when the buses were not operating.
The Dy CM said that the state government would take steps to release ex gratia of Rs 30 lakh to employees who died during pandemic service.
“The four corporations have suffered a loss of around 3,000 crore rupees. But despite the losses, the government took proactive steps to pay the salaries of corporate employees. The salaries were paid in cooperation with the government and the corporations, “he said. .
He added that while he was in another state, there was a pay cut of up to 25 percent, but Karnataka has not taken that step just so as not to cause any problems for our employees.
In a statement issued by his office, Savadi said that a meeting of officials has been called to consider the employees’ demands.
According to sources from the transportation department, no BMTC buses were operated in the city, while only 32 percent of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and less than 35 percent of the buses of other corporations transportation were operational on Friday.
The unrest was generally peaceful, except for a few sporadic incidents of stoning on government buses in Nelamangala in Bengaluru, Kalaburagi city and Channapatna in Ramanagar district.
