The proposed KTC strike in Goa has been deferred after talks between the Kadamba Transport Corporation (KTC) Drivers and Allied Employees Association and KTC management on November 10, avoiding an immediate disruption to passenger transport planned from 9am on November 12.
The union had served a strike notice on October 30 over a series of pending employee and operational demands. These included the withdrawal or review of contentious circulars, regularisation of daily-wage, temporary and “badli” drivers and conductors who have completed five years of service, and restoration of pending provident fund benefits.
Management agreed to take up the long-pending Seventh Pay Commission arrears with the state government for payment in instalments. The arrears cover the period from January 2017 to October 2019. The union also raised concerns over promotions, arbitrary fines, break-in-service, bonus and ex-gratia payments, transfers of union committee members and pay-fixation anomalies affecting employees.
The discussions extended beyond wages and service conditions to the capacity and functioning of Goa’s state transport system. The union sought the procurement of 300 new diesel buses and the introduction of 15 air-conditioned buses. Other demands included improved crew safety during night halts, better depot facilities, identity cards, overtime payments and enhanced allowances for drivers, conductors and sweepers.
KTC management assured the union that several matters would be examined. Issues requiring government intervention would be pursued with the state, while other matters would be discussed bilaterally with the association. The details supplied in the report do not indicate that all the demands have been resolved; the immediate outcome is the deferral of the proposed strike and continued engagement between the parties.
The development came as the Goa government prohibited strikes in all transport services across the state for six months, with immediate effect. An order issued by the Department of Home (General) at the Secretariat in Porvorim invoked Section 3(1) of the Goa Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1988.
The order applies to transport services involving the carriage of passengers or goods by land or water. Its timing places the KTC dispute within a wider regulatory framework in which disruptions to transport services can be restricted under essential-services legislation.
For passengers, the deferral means that the planned November 12 stoppage will not take place at this stage. For KTC, however, the talks leave a broad set of unresolved issues involving employee regularisation, arrears, fleet expansion, depot conditions and workforce safety. The next steps will depend on the management’s examination of the demands and the government’s response to the pay arrears and other matters requiring state action.
