TSRTC management did not meet our delegation even once: P Kamal Reddy, Employees' Union President

Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) Employees' Union President, P Kamal Reddy, on Monday said that the management did not meet their delegation even once to hear their demands.

"We gave the strike notice as per the rules of the Trade Union Act. The management of TSRTC did not meet our delegation even once. The labour department gave a date for a meeting once but they cancelled it later," he alleged.

"Our motive is to continue our agitation with the support of all organisations and departments. The government is exploiting us and that is why we are uniting all the parties to support us," he added.

Earlier, TSRTC Employees' Union condemned Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's decision to sack about 50,000 employees who did not return to work from a strike by the deadline set by the government.

TSRTC Employees' Union Zonal Secretary Hyderabad-Greater Hyderabad, Ragavulu, condemned the Chief Minister's decision. "We condemn the Chief Minister's statement to retrench about 50,000 employees who were on strike. This is injustice and against the rules," he said.

He further said, "We had handed over a 26-point memorandum to the RTC management on September 3 but no one from the management or government came to discuss the issues with us."

On Sunday, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announced that the government would not take back the striking workers who refused to end their two-day protest by the government's deadline of 6 pm on Saturday.

"People are angry over the RTC staff who went on strike. There is widespread opposition expressed in social media. People were put to a lot of hardship due to the strike. This is the reason why employees who have not reported to duty before the expiry of a deadline will not be taken back. Once they crossed over the main door they will not be allowed to come in," Rao had said in a statement.

The protestors were demanding, among others, the merger of the TSRTC with the government so that its employees can get the benefits of government employees.

The Chief Minister, however, refused to merge the entity with the government and vowed to include 50 per cent private bus fleet in the corporation. "Under any circumstances, RTC will not be merged with the government and the government will not have any talks with those who went on strike," the statement had said.