Suspension, dismissal of 4,190 RTC employees revoked

5,737 employees were penalised for taking part in the strike

The suspensions and dismissals of a majority of the employees of road transport corporations (RTCs) who took part in a 15-day bus strike in April, have been revoked.

Transport Minister B. Sriramulu, after a meeting with representatives of unions of the employees, said that suspensions, dismissals and punishment transfers of 4,190 employees of all the four corporations have been revoked.

Remaining cases

The four RTCs had taken action against 5,737 employees for taking part in the strike, obstructing bus crew from discharging their duties, and assaulting crew on duty. The Minister said in the remaining 1,500 odd cases, further action would be taken after seeking legal opinion, as FIRs were filed against employees and also include cases of dismissing trainee and probationary employees from service. Most of these employees are working in Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC). Challenging the dismissal from service, many employees had even approached the Labour Court.

The Minister said that during the meeting with the unions, various issues such as pay disparity, non-payment of provident fund, harassment of crew by higher ups and others were discussed. A total of eight unions took part in the interaction.

The Minister told mediapersons that the Chief Minister has asked him to instil confidence among the employees. He said that after the outbreak of the pandemic, the BJP government had released ₹2,500 crore towards payment of salaries of the staff.