On Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court stepped in firmly to halt a crippling public transport strike across the state. It gave a severe warning to the transport workers and their unions who were protesting. The court stepped in because the strike went on even though it had already told the workers to stop and the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) was used. The protest was put on hold until the next hearing.
While hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Sunil J and four others, a division bench made up of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Joshi said they were “seriously displeased.” The judges made it clear that the court would not put up with the trouble the strike was causing the public and that they would start contempt proceedings if the strike continued.
“If you have problems, talk to the government about them. You can’t make things hard for the public. “Continuing the strike even after ESMA has been invoked is illegal,” the bench said again, saying that the public should not be held “hostage” by such protests.
The unions had been told by the court to put off the strike, which was supposed to start on Tuesday. The court, on the other hand, prolonged its temporary stay for another two days and asked for an affidavit stating that the agitation had stopped. The court also warned the heads of the Joint Action Committee (JAC), which represents all four state-run transport companies, that they might be arrested under ESMA rules if the strike started up again.
The walkout was planned to demand a 25% wage raise on a base salary of ₹1,124 and the payment of 38 months’ worth of back pay, which is thought to be worth ₹1,800 crore. The unions turned down Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s offer to pay off 14 months’ worth of back wages, saying they wanted the whole amount.
The JAC’s lawyer told the court that the strike would not continue on Wednesday and that all workers would return to work, as the court had ordered. HV Anantha Subbarao, the head of the KSRTC Staff and Workers’ Federation, held a news conference shortly after the hearing to officially announce the end of the strike. He also asked management not to punish the personnel who took part.
The strike had a big effect on people who used public transportation on Tuesday. The government said that services were running in Bengaluru, however reports said that just 50% of people in areas were using the buses. A lot of people had to use the Namma Metro at the Majestic Metro Station in Bengaluru, and the service disruptions struck Kalyana Karnataka and North-West Karnataka the hardest.