TN Government to hold talks with transport Trade Unions today

While some union members exuded hope of reaching a consensus, others union leaders remained skeptical. They said that the ball is in the transport department’s court to fulfil their demands and the present political turmoil in the state will only add to their problems.

According to transport department unions, though there were several rounds of talks with the government, they were not able to find solutions to their issues. Even while they served strike notice a few days ago, the transport officials did not wake up from the deep slumber.

Transport union members also said that the government might keep mulling over to hold talks at the eleventh hour to stop the strike, which is a wrong approach to solve the problems.

A Natarajan, general secretary of Labour Progressive Federation (LPF), said, “We were hoping that our demands would be met before the strike. But, going by the present political scenario in the state, we have lost hope. However, we will keep raising our issues and go on a strike, as per announcement, if the government is not willing to hold talks and sort out our issues.”

When contacted, V Krishnamurthy, Managing Director of MTC, who heads the government panel, told DT Next, “There will be trilateral talks on Tuesday in which officials from Labour department, Transport department and representatives from transport union will participate. We will also hear the issues faced by the employees and those issues will be brought to the notice of state transport minister MR Vijayabhaskar.” Asked about the possibility of clinching a deal in the meeting, the MD replied in the affirmative.