The week-long stand-off between a bus operator in Thiruvarppu and activists of the CPI(M)-backed Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) ended here on Monday with both sides finally agreeing to settle the dispute amicably during a discussion convened by the District Labour officer.
Based on the discussions, which lasted nearly two days, it has been decided that the employees under the transport company will take turns to work in all buses run by it. This will enable the company to rotate its workforce equally between the buses that are making operational profit and loss.
The workers, meanwhile, will be given an additional wage of ₹175 each on days when the overall collections after expenses exceed ₹2,000.
Earlier in the day, the bus operator Raj Mohan had walked out from the discussions citing the presence of a labour union worker, who had assaulted him the other day, among the trade union’s representatives. The discussions resumed in the afternoon after the said person had withdrawn from the discussions.
The negotiations were initiated by the District Labour Officer on a direction by the Labour Minister V. Sivankutty.
The CITU had erected protest flags and banners in front of one of the four buses owned by Mr. Mohan, which operates in the Thiruvarppu-Kottayam sector, following a dispute over the daily wages of its employees. After attempts by the authorities to resolve the issue amicably failed to yield any results, the bus operator approached the Kerala High Court and obtained a verdict in his favour. Despite this, he was unable to resume its operation as the trade union reportedly continued with its protest.
The stand-off had taken a violent turn the other day when one of the CITU leaders assaulted Mr. Mohan while attempting to dismantle the protest flags and banners with a view to resume the service.
