APSRTC Employees’ JAC to continue agitation

Vijayawada: The APSRTC Employees’ Unions Joint Action Committee (JAC) has decided to continue its statewide agitation, alleging that the official minutes of the July 30 meeting with the APSRTC management failed to clearly reflect the assurances given on key employee demands.

As part of the ongoing protest against the alleged privatisation of RTC services through the introduction of electric buses, the JAC leaders on Monday submitted memoranda signed by nearly 42,000 APSRTC employees to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu through District Collectors across all 27 districts of Andhra Pradesh.

JAC State Conveners Y Srinivasa Rao and Palisetty Damodara Rao said discussions with APSRTC Vice-Chairman and Managing Director N Bala Subramanyam and senior officials on 25 employee-related demands were held in a positive atmosphere. However, they alleged that the minutes circulated by the management did not clearly reflect the commitments and assurances made during the meeting.

Consequently, the JAC submitted a formal letter to the management seeking revised minutes with explicit clarity on all the assurances and issues discussed, they said. The JAC leaders said the third phase of the agitation would continue until the management issues comprehensive minutes providing clarity on the assurances.

They warned that if the government and RTC management fail to address the employees’ legitimate demands, the protest would be intensified in a phased manner. As part of the next phase of the agitation, the JAC leaders said they would meet employee unions, retired employees’ associations, trade unions, teachers’ organisations, student and youth organisations, government employees’ associations and other organisations on August 7 and 8 to seek their support for the movement.

The union leaders also announced two-day mass relay hunger strikes at all RTC depots and units across the State on August 17 and 18, during which employees will wear black badges.

This will be followed by mass dharnas in front of the offices of the District Public Transport Officers (DPTOs) across the state on August 28, demanding an early resolution of the pending issues and protection of APSRTC as a public sector undertaking, they added.