Bus strike in Chennai over wage cut 'rumours', commuters suffer

Chennai, July 01: A flash strike called by 23,000 transport workers regarding the payment of salary on Monday morning left thousands of commuters in the lurch.

The strike carried out by the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) crew affiliated to opposition unions was over the non-payment of a portion of salary resulted in non-operation of buses from several bus terminals including Ambattur, Avadi, Poonamallee, Anna Nagar West and Iyyappanthangal.

The striking workers allege that their salaries for the month of June have either not been paid or not been paid in full; some allege that their pay has been cut by 60 per cent.

The strike is likely to affect the school- and office-going crowd. Meanwhile, the Chennai Metro, as well as auto rickshaws and app-based taxi services were in full demand.

In January last year, as many as 17 trade unions had launched an indefinite strike on the night of January 3, asking for the 'factor' for wage revision to be fixed at 2.57 times, while the state government contended that it should be 2.44 times.

While unions settled for the government number, it came as a bitter pill as the Madras High Court had intervened, ordering action on striking employees. The employees had also been demanding long-pending dues, including the pension of retired employees and the arrears to be paid as per the wage revision over the past 5- 6 years.