The regional representatives of Uttaranchal Roadways Karmchari Union conducted a meeting on Monday in order to make plan of action regarding the work boycott that they are scheduled to observe from the midnight of May 16.
General secretary of the union Ashok Chaudhary said that if undertaken, the strike will affect operation of about 800 buses on daily basis. He also mentioned that the regional representatives of the union will be having meeting with state representatives of administration, however they are not optimistic about it.
He said, “We conducted a meeting on Monday with the regional members of the union. A similar meeting was held in Tanakpur too. The idea was to make plans regarding the night of May 16. Yes, the state government representatives are contacting union representatives; however we are not optimistic with their response. All three regional union representatives will be having meeting on Tuesday with the regional representatives of state administration.”
When asked about their main demands he said, “Pending salary is our major demand. Our members have not been able to pay the school fees of their children; it has become difficult to even feed our families. Payment of our pending salaries is our biggest requirement. Of course, there are things which cannot happen in one day, for example corruption within the management cannot be cleared in one day. However, the matter of pending salaries should be resolved immediately.”
When asked about the affect the strike will have on the operation of buses he said, “Till the last moment we tried to not let this issue affect the day to day operation of buses, but it has finally come to that. On normal days, about 1000 buses travel to different stations, during the strike the number will decrease down to 200.