The AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) Board, which met a couple of days ago, authorised the Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of the Corporation to take steps required in connection with the absorption of the employees into the government service through the newly-created Public Transport Department (PTD).
According to a notification issued by the corporation’s Executive Director (administration), the guidelines issues earlier under the provisions of Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, Trade Union Act, 1927, and Code of Discipline, will not be applicable to the employees absorbed into the PTD any longer.
The corporation officials have been asked to address the employees’ grievances as per the new guidelines issued by the government.
Call for stir
Leaders of the RTC Employees’ Union (EU), meanwhile, have called for a two-day State-wide protests on Thursday and Friday in protest against cancellation of the existing facilities to the employees in the name of ‘merger’.
In a statement, Y.V. Rao and P. Damodara Rao, EU’s State president and general secretary respectively, said the workers would stage dharnas across the 128 depots and four workshops to register their strong protest against “the unilateral stand of the management on key issues related to their welfare.”
Their demands include grant of additional benefits that are given to government employees, allow workers’ unions to continue, allow continuation of employees’ welfare schemes like Staff Recruitment Benefit Scheme and Staff Benevolent Trust, rollback of the decision to fill vacant posts of drivers and conductors with outsourced staff, regularisation of the services of 150 contract employees who were promised on this count and fulfilment of all agreements reached between the union and the management in the past.
They said a memorandum was submitted to the corporation officials and if they failed to concede their demands, a sustained agitation would be launched across the State.
