Give up strike, Tamil Nadu CM tells transport crew
Palaniswami's statement in the Assembly came just as the striking employees took to the streets with their family.
Chennai: As the strike by transport employees entered its sixth day and continued to affect the lives of lakhs of people, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday renewed his appeal to them to return to work and “accept the pay hike” considering the “bad financial situation” of the department.
Speaking in the Assembly after Opposition Leader MK Stalin wondered whether the chief minister was not interested in resolving the transport crisis,
Palaniswami said the transport employees should get back to work considering the sufferings of the people that the strike has caused to them.
Palaniswami’s statement in the Assembly came just as the striking employees took to the streets with their family. However, drivers and conductors affiliated to the trade union of the AIADMK ensured that most buses were on the road on Tuesday.
Though normalcy was yet to be restored, passengers said the situation was much better compared to last week.
“To say that the Chief Minister is not interested is wrong. The Transport Minister has spoken to the unions 11 times in the past few months and every time he went to the talks, he consulted me. Only after consulting me, the Transport Minister assured the employees that their wages will be fixed at 2.44 times. And hence, to say that the CM did not hold talks is wrong”, Palaniswami said in his statement.
Earlier, Stalin, while raising the transport employees' strike, had asked the government to hold talks with the striking employees and solve the crisis amicably. He had also wondered whether the chief minister was not interested in resolving the crisis and why he was not making a statement in the House.
