Visakhapatnam: The members of APSRTC Employees Union from Visakhapatnam protested against reducing the number of buses in the region. They complained that new people were not being recruited and that the existing employees are being forced to work double shift.
Around 100 employees participated in the strike being held near the GVMC office on Thursday.
The failure to meet the demands of the Union will result in a zonal strike, including all employees of Visakhapatnam, Vizia-nagaram, Srikakulam and East Godavari districts, said Palisetty Damodara Rao, state additional principal secretary of the union.
“The number of RTC buses, including Palle Velugu, in the state has been decreased to 11,000 from 12,500 in 2014. Moreover, there has been no recruitment of drivers and conductors since 2015. This had led to shortage of employees. Three years ago, there used to be 5,000 employees but now, there are only 3,555, he said. “The employees have been suffering working double shifts in a day,” he said.
