Himachal Pradesh: HRTC drivers warn they will stop 2,500 bus services from Sunday night

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], May 14 : The drivers of Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) have warned they will stop hundreds of night bus services from Sunday midnight if their demands are not met.
The Drivers Union has claimed it would stop nearly 2,500 routes of the HRTC business as their demands are not being fulfilled. The employee Unions of the HRTC are divided on the issue. Other Unions are not supporting the strike and are claiming that its impact is in limited areas of Shimla and Mandi districts.
The HRTC employees have been demanding their arrears for overtime night duties. In addition to this, there are several other wage and salary issues as well.
Himachal Road Transport Corporation has a fleet of over 3,300 buses and over 8,000 employees.
The Union leaders had talks with the authorities of the Corporation but failed to reach a solution.
"We have several demands of pending wages and arrears. We did not get our arrears of overtime night duties for the past 41 months. We recently had a discussion with the Managing director and it resulted in no conclusion. Now, we have decided to go on a strike from Sunday midnight. Until we get advance payment for arrears we shall not go to work during the night services. Nearly 2500 drivers will stop working and the same number of conductors will also not be working for night services so 5000 employees will be on strike. They have been deceiving us for long and now we shall not work for night until we get advance money," said Maan Singh Thakur, the Head of the HRTC Drivers Union said.
Another Union of Transport Employees Federation INTUC has announced not to support the demand to stop night bus services from 15 May 2023.
"Actually we have nearly 10 Unions of employees. Earlier we were protesting and raising our demand through a joint coordination committee but now that Committe does not exist. We have received arrears for two months of 2019 and 2023 recently. We want to give the new government some time, as they have just taken over and paid arrears of two months in a small period of time. The authorities are ready for discussion, so we are not supporting the present strike of one of the driver unions," Said Umesh Kumar, State president of, the Transport Employees Federation.
In response to this, the Managing Director of the Himachal Pradesh Road and Transport Corporate (HRTC), Sandeep Kumar said that their issues and demands will be fulfilled in a phased manner
"There are nearly 8-10 Employees Unions in HRTC. One of the unions has called a strike. We have invited them for a talk and we have assured them to resolve their issues and release the arrear payments in a phased manner. Doors for meeting with the CM and Deputy CM are open and the meeting is expected next month. We have recently released some arrears and have planned to resolve their all demands in a phased manner. As far as this strike is concerned, this will not have a major impact on the night bus services. We shall ensure no passengers suffer." Said Sandeep Kumar, Managing Director, HRTC.