The Karnataka High Court on Monday issued an interim stay against the indefinite strike by KSRTC, BMTC, NWKRTC and KKRTC employees from August 5 but the unions have decided to go ahead with their agitation. Now all eyes are on the Siddaramaiah government's response as the talks are believed to continue on Tuesday.
"If the entire public transport operation is stalled, the public are likely to be put to hardship. Therefore, it would be appropriate to grant interim stay till tomorrow (Aug 5) awaiting the outcome of negotiations with the government referred to above. Hence respondent No.7 is hereby directed to put on hold the proposed strike till next hearing date," the court said.
Will Siddaramaiah give in to union demands?
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If the strikes go on indefinitely, the government might be forced to come up with favourable terms for the bus employees.
ALSO READ: When will Karnataka bus strike end? Who will be affected?
Last month, the Siddaramaiah government invoked the Karnataka Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA), 2013, to ban strikes till December 31. Around 30,000 private transport vehicles will be roped in to ply services for commuters. It remains to be seen if this would be a practical solution for commuters who are regularly dependent on KSRTC and BMTC services.
The government's talks with the transport unions over salary hike and payment of arrears over 38 months have failed, prompting the employees to launch strike. The final round of the talks were held in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy.
Siddaramaiah reportedly agreed to clear two years of arrears and asked the employees to give up their claim on the remaining two years. This was met with strong objection from the unions, who insisted that arrears of all the 38 months from January 1, 2020, should be settled. They are also seeking implementation of equal pay under the 7th Pay Commission from January 1, 2024.
