Kochi: Thousands of commuters were stranded on Saturday as over 500 schedules of the KSRTC were cancelled after the staff at various depots abstained from work and went on leave en masse protesting against the delay in the payment of salary.
The high drama lasted the whole day till the management distributed the salary, daily wages to contract employees and even the pension dues by evening with the state government releasing a fund of Rs 40 crore.
The impact of the token strike was felt at depots like Kozhikode, Thrissur, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Kozhikode in the morning itself. n Staff got salary by evening,
Soon various unions, including the KSRTEA and the INTUC, too joined the strike demanding that the salary for November be distributed immediately.
While a relay hunger strike was conducted at the Pavangad depot, the protesting employees in Kottarakkara blocked buses that arrived at the depot from other districts.
“I arrived at the Cherthala depot at 6.30 a.m. No buses were operating and the commuters had no clue on what was happening.
Soon candidates of a PSC exam dotted every inch of the bus stand. Finally, I could get into a bus coming from another depot to Ernakulam after nearly two hours,” said A. Sreedevi, a bank employee.
According to a KSRTC official, only three services were operated from Alappuzha depot instead of the usual 90. “The situation was same except in Chengannur depot where all services were operated due to the Mandala season,” the official said.
Meanwhile, the KSRTC management by noon asked the staff to withdraw the protest saying the fund was arranged and that the salary would be credited to the staff accounts soon.
The office of the Finance Ministry too conveyed that the salary distribution had commenced.
“The government provided us Rs 40 crore. The Palakkad co-operative bank transferred a loan of Rs 17 crore and we had another Rs 12 crore with us.
The salary for November, wages to contract workers and the pension dues for September were distributed. The strike is against the deal with the unions that they have to wait till the seventh of every month for salary,” said Antony Chacko, Managing Director.
The staff got the salary credited by 4 p.m. and finally the strike was withdrawn and the services were back to normal by 6 p.m.
