KSRTC pay revision talks fail; unions firm on strike over arrears, revised scale

Bengaluru: Talks between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and leaders of KSRTC workers’ unions on Monday failed to break the deadlock over wage revision and pending arrears, with employee representatives reiterating their demand for full implementation of both.

The unions, including the Joint Action Committee and the Federation of Karnataka State Road Transport Employees’ Associations, insisted that the government implement the pay revision retrospectively from January 1, 2024, and release 38 months of pending arrears accrued after the last revision. They categorically stated there would be no compromise on these two core demands.

Briefing the media after the meeting, H.V. Ananthasubba Rao, president of KSRTC Staff and Workers’ Federation, said, “The Chief Minister did not show any willingness to fully meet our demands. He agreed to release only 14 months of arrears, which we cannot accept. We have clearly communicated that our strike plan remains unchanged.”

The unions pointed out that salary revisions were traditionally implemented every four years in the transport corporations and were made effective from the due date regardless of the delay in approval. Rao said the government’s current move to alter this long-standing practice is unacceptable.

Another union leader, Manjunath, said, “We had raised the demand for a pay hike 18 months ago. Even now, the government is not ready for a full revision.