Members of various unions staged sit-in protests in front of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) Head Office and depots across Madurai district on Thursday, demanding the government to expedite settlement of their retirement dues.
Members of various unions, including Labour Progressive Federation, Centre of Indian Trade Unions and Tamil Nadu Government Transport Staff Federation, participated in the sit-in protests that were held across the State. S. Sampath, State joint secretary of Tamil Nadu Government Staff Transport Federation, said the main demand of the protesters was faster disbursal of retirement benefits pending from April 2019 to April 2020. “A government order was passed on December 21, 2020, regarding the settlement of retirement dues such as gratuity and provident fund. But, till date no action has been initiated for the settlement of dues,” he said.
The protesters also urged the government to streamline the exact number of transport unions that could have negotiations with it.
Mr. Sampath said that around 15 years back, only six transport unions, which were elected through a secret ballot, were functional. “But, as the government started registering transport unions, the number of unions increased. In September 2016, the government had called upon 47 transport unions for the negotiation of wage revision. Although a majority of the unions accepted the terms of the government, all of them were smaller unions. None of the major unions accepted the government's representations. Hence, the government must work towards streamlining the transport unions,” he said.
