Roadways staff put off strike

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 27

Haryana Roadways employee unions today postponed their strike for two months following talks with the state government. They had given a call for “chakka jam” for tomorrow.

Dalbir Kirmara and Hari Narain Sharma, members of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of five unions, today said the decision was taken after Transport Minister Krishan Panwar, Transport Commissioner-cum-Director General of Transport Vikas Gupta and other senior officers assured them of fulfilling their demands in 45 days.

“If the government fails to keep its word, we will decide our future course of action after two months,” they said.

Before meeting representatives of the five unions who had given the strike call, the minister and others had a meeting with four other unions considered close to the government.

The two meetings lasted for five hours.

Azad Singh Malik, a representative of the four unions, said members of the unions were satisfied with the talks.

Panwar said representatives of the nine unions had raised 16 points during the meetings and all had been resolved.

He said, “The unions have a wrong perception that the government has closed certain inter-state routes for roadways buses to favour private players. The government has not closed any route, only reviewed those incurring losses to Haryana Roadways.”

The union leaders said it has been resolved in the meeting that no route will be closed and the government will give this in writing to them.

The minister further said the government had assured the unions of removing anomalies within 45 days in the date of regularisation of services of workers appointed between 1992 and 2002.

“Workers employed on contractual basis in 2016 for Rs 12,000 per month and now getting Rs 15,000 will start receiving Rs 27,500 on the basis of a Supreme Court’s judgment on equal pay for equal work,” Panwar said.

On unpaid bonus of two years, he said: “The Transport Department has already got an approval from the Finance Department for one year’s bonus. It will be paid to employees soon. As for the bonus for the second year, efforts will be made to disburse that as well.”