Bus commuters in the district were affected as the indefinite strike call given by the joint action committee comprising 11 trade unions of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) from Monday, seeking fulfilment of various demands, was advanced to Sunday.
Trade union leaders said that the strike was not advanced by the unions.
“Drivers and conductors refrained from working from Sunday as they are disappointed over failure of talks between the union representatives and officials of the transport corporation in Chennai on Saturday,” said M. Abu Razeed, district secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions.
General secretary of the Tamil Nadu Transport Staff Federation K. Elangovan said that the strike was organised to draw the attention of the Government to revise their wage, which was due for more than a year, repay the pending dearness allowance, regularise the jobs of temporary staff and end the alleged malpractices in the transport corporation.
More than 90 per cent buses plied in the first shift, which started at about 4 a.m. Trade union leaders claimed that more than 75 per cent of the buses went off the road from the afternoon.
TNSTC officials contended that only 20 per cent of the total of 794 town and mofussil buses here did not operate from the afternoon.
Officials said that many passengers, who were returning to other districts after the festival season, went a day ahead of the scheduled journey.
The buses were full even on Saturday as people were aware of the indefinite strike from Monday.
But, disappointment and rush could not be avoided on Sunday as passengers thronged bus stands.
A State Express Transport Corporation official said that arrangements were in place for passengers who had booked a seat so that they reached their destination on Monday.
There were tense moments outside the TNSTC depots in the city on Sunday as the Anna Thozhirsanga Peravai (ATP), who did not take part in the strike, pasted posters on buses that buses would be operated as usual.
Security was beefed up at depots.
ATP president for Coimbatore and The Nilgiris P. Vijayakumar claimed that theirs was the major trade union and that they were ready to work despite the strike call given by the joint action committee.
He alleged that their drivers and conductors were forcibly stopped from coming to work. The police denied such incidents.
