J and K SRTC employees take out protest rally

Jammu, Sep 3 (UNI) The employees of Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation (JKSRTC) today took to the streets and staged protest rallies demanding immediate release of their five-month-long pending salaries.

The entire Corporation fleet has almost come to a grinding halt as the employees have suspended traffic operation within the state and also on the inter-state routes.

''We are without wages for the last five months and the government breached its agreement, which was signed between the leaders of the Workers Union and the Government representatives including MD of the Corporation and the Transport Commissioner on March 24, 2008,'' one of the Union's leader alleged.

The demonstrators said it was agreed that regular salaries would be paid to the JKSRTC employees while pending 42 slabs of COLA would also be released besides according a hike in the wages of consolidated, contractual workers including drivers.

Hundreds of workers in Jammu today held demonstration at head office of the Corporation at Bikram Chowk and also took out a protest rally, who are on strike since August 20.

Sources revealed that the Corporation workers would gherao the Civil Secretariat tomorrow in Srinagar while a mass rally would be taken out here demanding early redressal to their grievances.

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