HYDERABAD: The National Mazdoor Union (NMU), the recognised trade union in the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC), served a strike notice on the management on Tuesday even as differences have cropped up among other unions.

A delegation of NMU leaders, comprising president M. Nageswara Rao and general secretary Syed Mehmood, met APSRTC Managing Director M.V. Krishna Rao and submitted the notice demanding, among other things, an 18 per cent wage hike and regularisation of the services of casual drivers and conductors recruited till 1999.

The union invoked legal provisions seeking a solution to its demands within 21 days through negotiations at various levels failing which it threatened to launch a strike.

Move questioned

Meanwhile, at a press conference R. Laxmaiah, secretary, CITU-affiliated Staff and Workers' Federation (SWF), questioned the NMU move in serving the strike notice without taking the other unions into confidence. He said the SWF would serve a separate notice on the management on Wednesday.

Apart from the wage hike, the SWF's demands include withdrawal of GO 94 pertaining to routes allocated to private operators and the other move of Government proposing to increase overlapping of routes by private players from eight to 25 kilometres, which would severely cut in to the APSRTC's revenues. Also, Mr. Laxmaiah said they would seek to focus Government attention on running of SETWIN buses in the State Capital.

In defence, Mr. Nageswara Rao said according to the agreement with the management signed on October 19 last year, the other unions had agreed to the NMU shouldering the responsibility as a recognised union to take up the issue of wage hike and get justice for employees.

The AITUC-affiliated APSRTC Employees' Union recalled the NMU admitting that it could not do justice on its own. In such a scenario, when there was no option other than going on strike, it was the recognised union's responsibility to constitute a united platform before taking up an agitation, union general secretary K. Padmakar said.

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