Mysuru: Bus services in the city and across the State was not affected as the one-day strike called today (Jan. 24) by the Joint Action Committee of Trade Unions of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), seeking fulfilment of its 14-point charter of demands, was limited to just protests.

The demands included pay revision, filling up of existing vacancies, providing better healthcare, reinstatement of sacked employees and overtime and other allowances, among others.

In Mysuru, the protest was held in front of  the Mysuru Divisional Controller’s office in Bannimantap, where over 30 Office-bearers of AITUC-backed KSRTC Staff and Workers Federation staged a demonstration seeking fulfilment of long-standing demands.

Accusing the State Government of ignoring the concerns of employees, the protesters claimed that salary revision of transport employees is pending since 2020, while at the same time, the workload of current employees has increased due to severe staff shortage. They warned of hitting the streets and stop operation of buses in the coming days if the Government does not consider their demands and make serious efforts to address them.

They later presented a memorandum at the Divisional Controller’s office.

The Joint Action Committee of Trade Unions of KSRTC comprises 6 Employee Unions covering the four Road Transport Corporations — KSRTC, BMTC, NWKRTC and KKRTC                             (formerly NEKRTC).

Meanwhile, Mysuru Divisional Controller R. Ashok Kumar said, there was no disruption in bus services in respect of both City and Mofussil service. Pointing out that Mysuru Division has about 4,650 employees and the Division operates 962 schedules every day, he said that none of the schedules were affected today and buses plied as ususal.

Maintaining that the strike did not have any impact on bus services as it was limited to protests, he reiterated that his Division operated trips and schedules as usual without any interruption.

It may be mentioned here that RTC employees went on an indefinite strike in April, 2021, severely disrupting bus services across the State. But the strike then was called off after 15 days following a Government assurance and a looming second wave of COVID pandemic.