TIRUNELVELI: The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) Workers’ Federation's General Secretary R Radhakrishnan demanded the state government to initiate talks over the 15th wage revision agreement, stating that the period of the 14th wage revision agreement ended on August 31, 2023, here on Thursday.
In a petition to the transport department’s principal secretary, Radhakrishnan said that the government should not cite the Model Code of Conduct to delay talks. "The 14th wage revision agreement ended on August 31, 2023. From September 1, 2023, the 15th wage revision agreement should have come into effect. Due to the implementation delay, we decided to strike on December 19, 2023. However, after talks with the transport workers, the state government issued a G.O. to form a committee and sub-committee in February. Since the Election Commission of India declared dates for the Parliamentary election, the talks were halted," he pointed out.
"The talks for a wage revision agreement have been held since 1977. Such talks are not related to the implementation of the MCC. Also, the elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have ended. There is already a long delay concerning the 15th wage revision agreement. Hence, without citing the MCC as a reason, the state government should immediately start talks. Apart from this, the government must take steps to provide the pending hiked DA amount to retired workers," he demanded.