RTC buses were back on the roads on Monday evening after a 23-day absence, immediately leading to traffic jams after the corporation’s largest recognised union called off its strike upon the government agreeing to most of its demands. In a dramatic turn of events, the APSRTC National Mazdoor Union (NMU) announced its decision to withdraw after a meeting with transport minister Botsa Satyanarayana and road transport officials and securing a slew of concessions including the strike period being treated as leave and employees being paid for their period of absence.
The union stated that it had called off the strike keeping in view the financial difficulty staring at the corporation. The RTC NMU general secretary, Mr Syed Mahmood, said the transport corporation had accumulated losses of nearly Rs 150 crore.
Mixed reaction to RTC strike call off
Finally, city commuters breathed sigh-off relief as APSRTC called of its strike. Some buses emerged from depots in Rajendranagar, Koti, Secunderabad, and Mehdipatnam in the city after the strike was called off. The buses ran near-full with grateful commuters clambering aboard after being fleeced by autorickshaw drivers over the past three weeks.
On the roads, it was a different scene. With motor-ists getting used to free roads, the sudden appearance of buses caused consternation and a bit of confusion as RTC drivers crossed lanes and caused traffic jams. However, the RTC NMU Telangana Forum rejected the withdrawal of the strike. T-NMU unit state secretary K. Hanumanthu said that the strike notice was given by the T-Forum employees and only they can call off the strike. He said that the forum members would continue the strike. In response, NMU’s Mr Mahmood stated that the Telangana Forum had been abolished and requested the RTC employees to come back to work. The T-agitators reacted aggressively to the main union’s move.
Source : DC