Commuters in Karnataka were left stranded as transport workers of all four major road transport corporations went on a state-wide strike to press for their outstanding demands. The abrupt suspension of services caused extreme inconvenience with images of Hosur Regional Bus Terminal depicting long queues, bewilderment, and helpless commuters trying to find alternative modes of transport.
Employees of Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC) went on strike from 6 am on August 5.
The strike has been called to fulfil their demands, which include release of 38 months of pending wages of transport workers, revision in wages to be retrospective from January 1, 2024, privatisation and harassment of employees should end, and company drivers should also be deployed in electric buses.
This comes after negotiations between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the state road transport corporations failed.
Commuters who were dependent on the state transport for their daily routine work suffered due to the strike by employees.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court — extending the interim order to stay the ongoing indefinite strike by trade unions of state-run transport corporations across Karnataka — on Tuesday warned that contempt proceedings would be initiated if the trade unions continued the strike in violation of its order.
The court said orally: "Has the strike been suspended today?... Whatever you (trade unions) do (do it) in accordance with the law. As of now, the strike is illegal. If you have issues, you can negotiate with the government. You can't hold the public for ransom, but that is exactly what the unions are doing. The public can't be inconvenienced in this manner."
A division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Joshi made these oral observations while extending the interim order till August 7, the next date of hearing.
The court on Monday had directed the Joint Action Committee of the trade unions of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) employees to put on hold their proposed indefinite strike, originally scheduled to begin on August 5, by one day. Even then, all four departments decided to proceed with their strike.
Moreover, passengers at the city bus stations were filled with confusion and panic as many travellers expressed outrage over the officials of the transport not communicating anything. No proper announcements regarding cancellations or postponements were made, leaving stranded travellers, many with emergencies to attend to, in a state of uncertainty.
A passenger informed, "We have been here for the past one hour. We still do not know if the bus will even arrive or not. It has brought lots of inconvenience as it has not been planned properly. No alternative has been provided to all the passengers who had booked the tickets much in advance. Even the officials present here are unaware."
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The Karnataka state government has also stationed police staff at various bus stands after the protest by the workers.
Since government buses are not in operation, the state government has made a decision to use private buses for public transport to many places. Private buses commenced trips after obtaining permission from the government.
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