Employees desert toothless unions in Kerala State Road Transport Corporation
KOZHIKODE: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), synonymous with militant trade unionism in the state, is witnessing a drastic change with the workers abandoning the unions. Nearly 7,000 KSRTC employees have instructed the State Bank of India branch at Puthenchantha in Thiruvananthapuram not to deduct the monthly membership fee varying from Rs 100 and Rs 150 from their salaries in favour of the respective unions. A source said the bank has assigned a staff for dealing exclusively with the matter. The arrangement to deduct the TU fee was made in an agreement between employees, management, union leaders and the bank a few years back when the corporation started paying salary through banks.
Among the 40,000 odd employees, KSRTC Employees’ Association affiliated with CITU has 48 per cent share whereas INTUC controlled Transport Democratic Federation has 27 percent and Transport Employees Union of AITUC, 10 percent. The CITU alone lost around 4,000 members in the last one year. The workers are deserting the unions as the union leaderships have failed to force their will on the beleaguered management of the corporation struggling to find the resources for the disbursement salary and pensions on time.
Transport Employees’ Union (AITUC) state general secretary Rahul M.G. told DC that the working atmosphere in KSRTC has become quite unfriendly. “Even a TU giant like the CITU which is the backbone of CPM is hapless in addressing their worries and arrest the drain in membership,” he said. Some union leaders term it as ‘MGR-impact’ referring to the actions taken by KSRTC chairman and managing director M.G. Rajamanickam, which resulted in the sidelining of the unions. "Earlier we had a chance to oppose and defeat anti-labour policies of the management even before they go to the boardroom,” said a trade union leader who preferred anonymity. “But now all anti-labour orders come in odd hours. Even suspensions and dismissals of empanelled employees are not at all issued to individuals but just put onnotice boards."
