Chennai: Churlish MTC bus staff seem to have reason to scowl: for every ticketless passenger or complaint of rude behaviour against him, the conductor loses an increment, and for even a scratch on the bus or accident, the driver loses his. If it’s a temporary employee, his confirmation gets delayed. What’s worse, the daily wage earning driver or conductor on casual duty earns less than the hawker on the street. At the receiving end of passenger ire through the day, he gets paid only Rs261 (Rs230 in other cities in the state) by the government.

“This is why we struck work for three days. The volume of vehicles and diversions on city roads these days have increased, but I have to follow the same timing,” said MTC driver Pandian (name changed) irritably. Conductor Singaram agrees, “Well over 100 people travel during peak hours on a bus. Half of them give me a 100-rupee note. Commuters think we are mobile teller machines, dispensing coins to everyone. If a passenger goes ticketless and is caught I lose my increment.”

Pandian, who joined the TNSTC as a driver on a casual basis seven years ago, has not yet received his confirmation order. “It was almost ready,” he recalls, “when a trailing vehicle hit the rear of the bus and my order was put on hold.” He has been earning Rs 5,400 for seven years now, his marriage plans too being put on hold. Another driver points out also how any damage to a window, windshield or indicator results in a cut from their salaries as also if a conductor were to lose the ticket bundle.

General secretary of the DMK-backed LPF Transport Employees’ Union K Natarajan says, “It takes a minimum of six years for a TNSTC/MTC driver to earn beyond Rs 7,000 per month. There is no guarantee that he will be confirmed after the two mandatory 240 duties from the date of recruitment because any charge, be it an accident or complaint, will delay his confirmation indefinitely.”

The average carrying capacity of an MTC bus per day is 1,567, whereas it is only 567 in a state like Andhra Pradesh, he says, wondering how the bus crew can be expected to appear pleasant on duty under such pressure and when paid such meagre sum. Drivers complain that they work nearly 10 hours a day against the mandatory eight hours, but get paid only for eight hours.

A senior MTC officer, who vouches for the staff being under enormous pressure, says, “We have even come across incidents where college students flash knives at conductors for asking them to buy tickets.

11-member panel to hold talks with unions

The state on Friday constituted an 11-member committee to hold talks with trade unions representing the workers of the transport department. A government order, issued by transport secretary T. Prabakar Rao said that all the managing directors of the State Transport Corporations (Salem, Madurai, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Kumbakonam and Villupuram) and law department’s additional secretary P. Umanath would be its members. The Metropolitan Transport Corpora-tion’s managing director will be the member secretary, the order read.

“We have already submitted our list of 22 demands, including wage revision and job regularisation, and it is up to the committee to gear up for the talks,” said CITU leader and Perambur legislator A. Soundararajan.

“The government assured us that those arrested during the strike would be released, but several cases in which public property were damaged have now been framed only against the DMK-affiliated, Labour Progressive Federation (LPF) union. Only LPF members are now under arrest,” said M. Shanmugham, general secretary, LPF. He suggested that the government drop charges and release all the workers. “On the legal front, we have also filed bail petitions, seeking the release of the transport workers,” he added.

“Most of the state transport department’s properties are under debt and the recently revised dearness allowance is an additional burden that has to be borne by state transport corporations, with the state clarifying that it