HRTC staff warn of strike over delayed salaries

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Yog Raj Sharma

The North News

Shimla, December 9
Drivers and conductors of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) staged a protest outside the corporation headquarters at the Old Bus Stand in Shimla on Tuesday, accusing the state government and HRTC management of failing to release their salaries even after the first week of December.

The HRTC Drivers and Conductors Union has given the government a 15-day ultimatum, warning that they will stop bus services from December 24 if salaries and pending dues are not cleared. Union members said they had no choice but to consider an indefinite strike. Union president Man Singh Thakur said the corporation must either “run HRTC properly or shut it down”, but workers must receive what is rightfully theirs. He alleged shortages of spare parts and mechanics in HRTC workshops and claimed staff were being pressured to run unfit buses on routes.

He added that drivers and conductors were facing public anger when buses broke down on the road and that frustration among employees had reached “breaking point”.

Thakur said that without timely pay and financial benefits, it had become difficult for staff to support their families. “HRTC is not in loss,” he said. “If there is a loss, it is because of the management and the government.”