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The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of trade unions of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has announced an indefinite statewide strike from May 20, intensifying pressure on the State government over long-pending demands related to wages, arrears, employee welfare, and administrative issues.
Addressing a press conference in Kalaburagi on May 12, DA Vijayabhaskar, general secretary of the KSRTC Staff and Workers’ Federation, and B Jayadevaraj Urs, general secretary of the Akhila Karnataka State Road Transport Employees’ Federation, accused the state government of ignoring repeated appeals from transport employees despite several rounds of negotiations.
On May 12, the Karnataka government approved a 12.5% hike in basic pay for nearly one lakh employees and officers of the State-run transport corporations, with retrospective effect from April 1, 2025. The hike covers employees of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC).
However, Vijayabhaskar said the unions had demanded a 25% salary hike with retrospective effect from January 2024. According to the JAC leaders, the government’s offer is inadequate and fails to account for the rising cost of living and the financial hardships faced by transport employees.
The unions also objected to the government’s decision on pending arrears. While the government had earlier committed to paying Rs 1,785 crore in arrears for the 38-month period between January 1, 2020, and February 28, 2023, it later reduced the amount to Rs 1,271.92 crore for 26 months, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for excluding dues for 2020. Of this amount, only Rs 450 crore has been paid so far.
Vijayabhaskar demanded that the remaining arrears be cleared in a single instalment instead of phased payments.
The JAC leaders also sought immediate compensation for the families of transport employees who died during the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that many families are still awaiting financial relief despite repeated assurances from the government.
Stating that repeated appeals to the government had yielded no concrete response, the unions said they had been left with no option but to launch an indefinite strike from May 20. The leaders warned that if the government continues to avoid talks, the strike could severely disrupt the functioning of all four state-run transport corporations.
This article was written by a student interning with TNM.