TAMBARAM: Hundreds of commuters were stranded at Tambaram and other bus stops on Monday morning following a strike by the Metropolitan Transport Corporation staff to protest against the suspension of seven of their colleagues.

The staff, who assembled at 4 a.m. at the depot, decided not to start the buses as usual. They said services would be operated only after they got an assurance from the Managing Director that the suspensions would be revoked. They dispersed at 8 a.m. after assurances that their grievances would be looked into.

Being the first day of the week, hundreds of people were waiting at the Tambaram bus stop to go to various destinations.

While those proceeding to Koyambedu managed to take the mofussil buses, commuters on their way to Broadway and other places en route were stranded. MTC diverted some buses and operated buses from nearby depots. The striking staff resumed duty from 8. 30 a.m. and it took more than an hour for the rush to clear at the Tambaram bus stop.

The demands of the crew members of the 160-odd buses at the Tambaram Depot included revoking the suspension of seven drivers and conductors, improving their working conditions, better maintenance of the vehicles and regulating their working hours.

The staff said the pressing problem was marking them absent after they return to the depot when the vehicles develop a snag. The staff said many of them report to the Tambaram depot as early as 3.30 a.m. However, they are asked to operate the buses only at 7 a.m. At times, some vehicles break down while crew members bring them to the depot, but these vehicles are classified in the "not run" category and the staff marked absent.

Unfairly penalised

The staff alleged that drivers and conductors were being unfairly penalised for operating the buses behind schedule. Pointing out that the prescribed journey time between Tambaram and Guduvanchery was one hour and twenty minutes, it took close to two hours in running time due to traffic congestion and halts at various signals.

Another demand was regulation of working hours as staff were made to wait for several hours to operate the services and forced to work more than the stipulated time. Further, they were also recently deprived of the overtime allowance that they were entitled to. They said most of the problems originated in the maintenance section.

Management stand

However, senior officials of the MTC said they suspended the seven crew members as they deliberately terminated the services well ahead of the destination. The officials said that in one case, the crew stopped an E 18 bus at Tambaram itself, while it should have reached Guduvanchery. Further, the staff had misbehaved with the timekeepers who objected to the crew's actions.

Officials however agreed to look into the complaint that crew were marked absent for no fault of theirs.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous | Engagements |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Updates: Breaking News |