Chennai bus drivers go on flash strike over wage revision demand
January 05, 2018  10:25
Commuters in Chennai were in for a rude shock on Thursday evening as bus drivers went on a flash strike, some even walking off midway through the journey. 

The strike by opposition-backed trade unions continues today. 

The reason for the flash strike was the breakdown in talks between the unions and the transport minister over wage revision, and the government's refusal to yield to the demand to pay contract drivers the same wages as employees. 

No strike in Tamil Nadu can be 100% successful as there are AIADMK (the ruling party) and DMK affiliated unions in all sectors. Drivers belonging to the former continue to ply, with the result that only about 40% of the buses are on the roads today.  

Naturally, it's bonanza time for auto drivers and app cabs who have been making a killing. 

 In Tamil Nadu private operators also run buses on regular local routes, charging the same fare as government-run ones. But the latter have additional services like limited stops, end-to-end express, superfast, non-stop, etc, for which the fares are higher. 

-- A Ganesh Nadar
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