CHENNAI: Talks between trade unions representing workers of state transport undertakings and Transport Minister S S Sivasankar held at the MTC headquarters on Friday ended inconclusively. The next round of talks is scheduled for Sunday.
The talks took place against the backdrop of the unions’ decision to launch an indefinite strike from January 9, pressing to fulfil various demands. However, no progress was made as the minister sought more time to respond to the unions’ key demand for paying Dearness Allowance (DA) to retired workers, according to union leaders.
While the minister urged the union leaders to call off their decision to hold a strike ahead of the Pongal festival, the leaders insisted on an official order for paying DA to retired workers before January 14 which had been frozen since 2015. Approximately 90,000 retired workers will receive an additional Rs 4,000 to Rs 7,000 if the demand is met.
A Soundararajan of CITU said whenever government employees receive a hike in DA, retired workers should also get a DA hike on pension based on their basic pay. “The retired workers do not have any insurance facility. We are willing to grant more time to the government to settle DA arrears for retired workers. At the very least, they should be given a DA from January,” he said.
Soundararajan also said if the demand is not fulfilled, a strike will be held as announced. Sivasankar said, “Finance-related demands will be decided after having a discussion with the finance department. We will meet again on Sunday.” The other demands of trade unions include filling 35,000 vacancies in transport corporations and ending outsourcing of technical jobs.
Meanwhile, MTC and other transport corporations have issued advisories to their employees against taking leave from January 9. The directive said contract and temporary staff should report to work without fail. LPF, the DMK-affiliated trade union, and a few other smaller unions which have 35 to 40% of workers associated with them, have not joined the strike call.