Over 90% of buses running despite TN transport strike, commuters largely unaffected: Minister Sivasankar

Addressing reporters at the Koyambedu bus terminus in Chennai, he said, “Majority of the demands of the trade unions have been already met. With elections around the corner, the strike is politically motivated by the AIADMK. They believe that if the buses do not run, it will cause inconvenience to the passengers and their anger would reflect in the upcoming polls.”

“However, the situation is normal and there are no issues. Over 90 per cent of the buses are being operated. A few of them are running a little late due to the rainfall in certain districts,” Sivasankar said. Expressing his willingness to engage with the trade unions, the minister said he was also ready to visit their office if needed.

Though it was initially believed that all trade unions would participate in the strike, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Labour Progressive Federation (LPF) and the Congress’s India National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) issued statements that their workers will continue to operate buses.

As per the data issued by the state government on Tuesday morning, as many as 8,787 of the total 9,452 buses (92.96%) are operating. This comprises buses under the eight state transport undertakings (STUs), including the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) Chennai, State Express Transport Corporation (SETC), and Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) divisions in Villupuram, Salem, Coimbatore, Kumbakonam, Madurai and Tirunelveli.

This includes 100 per cent operation of buses under the Tirunelveli TNSTC division and the SETC. Under the MTC, 97 per cent of buses have been in operation since morning.

மாநகர் போக்குவரத்துக் கழகத்தின் சார்பில் இன்று பேருந்துகள் அனைத்து பணிமனைகளில் இருந்து அனைத்து வழித்தடங்களில் சீரான இடைவெளியில் இயக்கப்படுகிறது.
காலை நிலவரப்படி 97 சதவீத பேருந்துகள் தொடர்ந்து இயக்கப்பட்டு வருகிறது.#MTCChennai pic.twitter.com/F9IK0oGQH3

— MTC Chennai (@MtcChennai) January 9, 2024

In a statement earlier, Sivasankar had said that talks would be held with the unions after Pongal to arrive at an amicable solution, and urged the workers to withdraw the strike.

‘Four rounds of talks inconclusive’

Speaking to indianexpress.com, R Kamala Kannan of Anna Thozhir Sanga Peravai said that so far unions have had four rounds of talks, including three with the Labour Welfare Department and one with the transport minister, but no solution was provided for their demands.

“We had been holding talks since the last week of December. We had placed six demands and now we are asking the government to fulfill at least one of them, which is to release the dearness allowance for all retired workers and employees which would cost the government Rs 70 crore. But the government is not ready to fulfill even that,” he said.

Commenting on the state government’s statement saying that the strike has not had any major impact and that workers have been on duty since morning, Kannan alleged that nearly 50 per cent of the workers have not turned up for duty.

“The government is making those on the morning shift do another shift in the afternoon. The buses are uncomfortably packed with more people than usual, a bus that carried 10 people is now carrying 50. About 1.90 lakh daily commuters in the state are struggling due to the lower frequency of buses. For instance, out of the six areas in Coimbatore, all buses are operational only in one region,” he alleged.

Trade union members who are participating in the strike alleged that the government has hired private workers and college bus drivers to temporarily run the buses, which might be dangerous as they need not be aware of the conditions of the buses or the routes, and it might lead to accidents.