Karnataka road transport union to go on strike from midnight

More than one lakh employees of state-owned Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation will launch an indefinite strike from this midnight to press for their demand of hike in salary.
As many as 23,000 buses of KSRTC will stay off the roads, including in Bengaluru, and a total of 1.23 lakh employees will join the strike, KSRTC Staff and Workers' Federation general secretary H V Anantha Subbarao said today.
"The employees of public transport system - Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation - will go on an indefinite strike from midnight. They are demanding a salary hike," he told reporters here.
The decision comes in the wake of a stalemate in the talks between the government and the federation.

The employees are demanding a 35 per cent hike in salary, while the government was ready for 10 per cent increase.
"The 30 per cent hike in salaries will burden the state exchequer by Rs 4,550 crore. We are ready for 10 per cent hike," Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said.

He argued that the salaries drawn by KSRTC employees were higher compared to their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Maharashtra.
Asked whether the government would invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against the striking employees, Reddy said the government did not want to use this provision, but was ready to negotiate with the federation to solve the issue.

"We are ready to negiotiate with the federation to find solution for the issue. We do not want to invoke ESMA," he said.
Replying to another question, Reddy said the government would make alternative arrangements by giving temporary contract carriage to private operators during the strike.
The government has declared two-day holiday for schools because of the strike.
Subbrao said if the government invoked ESMA, the employees would be ready to court arrest. "Our families will come out and support the strike," he said.
Commuters in September 2012 had faced severe difficulties across the state when KSRTC employees struck work for three days.