Bengaluru: Karnataka on Friday invoked provisions of the state Industrial Disputes Act to invalidate the indefinite strike call given by the Karnataka State Road Transport Employees League (KSRTEL) since April 6, throwing public transport across the state out of gear.
According to the provisions of the act, the government can intervene at any given point of time to invalidate the strike call given by any employees union.
The government has sent this circular to all four transport corporations, which are responsible for inter- and intra-state transport with a total fleet strength of 26,000 buses and 1.37 lakh employees.
Government officials believe that this is a second step towards invoking provisions of the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against agitating employees.
“The first step being dismissing few employees from these corporations. Already, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) fired 96 trainee staff on Thursday evening and around 60 trainee staff on Friday evening is case in point,” an official said.
This act provides an opportunity to quell the rebellion, the official said, adding that we “can wean away large chunk of employees to our side to tide over the crisis”.
Meanwhile, KSRTEL’s honorary President, Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, asserted that employees stand united and none of them were worried about the government invoking ESMA or any other draconian acts to dissuade employees.
“We are continuing an indefinite strike on Saturday too. The government not only acted adamantly but also lost its humane touch by not releasing March salaries of our members. This is unheard off. This is not the way employees are treated,” he said.
