The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has roped in conductors and drivers on daily wage basis and invoked dies non for the employees not reporting for work on November 4 in view of the 24-hour strike that began on midnight.
With the empanelled personnel’s service ending in the State transport undertaking with the intervention of the High Court, the KSRTC was forced to depend on the workers on daily wage basis first time to run the fleet on Monday in view of the strike called by the INTUC- affiliated Transport Democratic Federation (TDF).
The unit officers across the State have been asked to utilise the services of the daily wagers as conductors and drivers on Monday, a top KSRTC official said.
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There is no bar on the KSRTC utilising the daily wagers on emergencies like the strike.
Instructions have also been given to operate maximum services and to run the stay buses that has patronage among those proceeding to railway stations to catch the early morning inter-city trains.
The KSRTC has invoked dies non for employees not reporting for work on Monday. The TDF is agitating for timely payment of salary, pay revision and disbursement of pending six instalments of dearness allowance among other things.
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The KSRTC is also groping in the dark to mobilise resources to pay the salary for this month.
The TDF is also up in arms against the sacking of 3,864 empanelled conductors, 2107 drivers, 650 clerks, 950 mechanics engaged in body building and 1,661 permanent staff since the Left Democratic Front came to power.
The TDF is one of the two approved trade unions in the State transport undertaking and has drivers and conductors in addition to other personnel from other wings.
The TDF, a federation of the Transport Drivers Union and the Transport Workers Union, enjoys support of the 30% of 31,000 employees on the rolls in the KSRTC.
The talks between the TDF leaders and the KSRTC management and the Labour Commissioner in the capital to avert the strike failed on Friday.