KSRTC staff on strike from August 5 over pay hike
BENGALURU: The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation has announced an indefinite strike from August 5, if their demands are not met. The strike will affect lakhs of people who depend on state-operated buses for travel.
Pay hike with effect from January 1, 2024, settlement of pending salary arrears for 38 months (January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2023) and wage revision to be in effect for four years (from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2027), deputing only corporation drivers to operate electric buses instead of those deputed by private players, scientific revision of Form 4 (which assigns timings for each bus route) are some of their major demands of nine pointers submitted to the CM along with the strike notice dated July 15, 2025.
The JAC, led by the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)-affiliated KSRTC Staff and Workers’ Federation, with the support of five other unions, announced at a press conference here on Wednesday that they had served the strike notice to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. It recalled previous instances of having withdrawn their strike after promises from the CM, who they claimed had taken a negative stance against their demands, and condemned his move at a meeting on July 4.
In their letter, the JAC said, “In the July 4 meeting, you (CM) rejected our demands. You questioned the previous government’s order, manipulated it without understanding the order and stated that there are no pending dues to be cleared, and that the next wage revision will only be in 2027.”
They said the CM’s stand has come as a shock to the workers, and recalled how workers had strived for the rollout of the government’s Shakti scheme, which helped RTCs get awards, and accused the CM of delivering grave injustice.