Commuters heave sigh of relief, bus strike called off

Chennai: Much to the relief of commuters, the indefinite strike by state owned transport corporation workers was called off on Wednesday following a meeting between the trade unions and transport minister Senthil Balaji and buses were back on the roads by noon. “The strike was withdrawn after the meeting as representatives of all the 11 trade unions, including DMK’s Labour Progressive Front (LPF), agreed to call it off, ” said Perambur legislator and CITU leader A. Soundararajan. 

The minister’s assurance on setting up  a committee in a day or two to hold more talks with the trade unions on their demands persuaded them to call off the three-day strike.“The government should form the committee in two days and start negotiations within a week.  If it continues to evade our demands, our approach will also change,” Mr Soundararajan warned. Although the  LPF was not physically present at the talks with the government, it gave its consent to hold talks in a letter.

 The employees were on strike since December 28 demanding more  wages, promotions and payment of arrears, among other things.“The government treats the police and electricity staff very well, but gives transport workers a raw deal. This is discrimination,”  protested an office-bearer of the  LPF.