As KMT union goes on indefinite strike, buses to stay off road

Kolhapur: Over 1 lakh passengers, including students, using Kolhapur Municipal Transport (KMT) buses are in for a tough time owing to the indefinite strike called by KMT workers' union from Wednesday midnight. The strike has been called over the delay in implementation of the sixth pay commission.
Over 800 KMT workers are demanding implementation of the sixth pay commission.However, municipal commissioner P Siva Sankar, who is also the manager of the KMT, has refused the implementation as it will add a burden of over Rs 35 lakh on the transport undertaking which is already running into losses.
According to KMT officials, buses will be off the road for indefinite period for the first time in the last 12 years. Nishikant Sarnaik, head of the union, said, "The demand is pending since the last 10 years. The workers are not getting salaries on time and the share towards our provident fund is not paid regularly. We have discussed all the issues with KMT manager, but he refused to accept the demand to implement sixth pay commission despite presenting the fact that most of the urban transport undertakings in the state have hiked the salaries."
The KMT pays Rs1.54 crore towards salaries of its employees every month. The officials claim that the additional burden due to sixth pay commission will be disastrous as the transport undertaking faces Rs 3 lakh as losses every day. The union, however, claimed that the losses are not due to the salaries, but due to mismanagement by the administration.
Sanjay Bhosale, deputy manager of the KMT, said, "We have given a letter to the union stating that the students will face hardships as the exams are going on and Diwali is around. Therefore, the strike should not happen. We have accepted all other demands of the union and have asked them to be patient while we are resolving the issue of payment of salaries on the basis of sixth pay commission."
The KMT officials also tried to arrange a meeting between union leader and mayor Ashwini Ramane. But, the meeting could not take place as leaders of the union refused to talk to anyone other than Sankar.