The Karnataka trade unions on Tuesday suspended their strike till August 7 after intervention of High Court. The strike was called off after the court issued notice in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) regarding the ongoing strike. However, the union leaders claimed they hadn't received direct notice, but after receiving clear directions from the court, they withdrew the strike and urged workers to resume duty.
In the meantime, KSRTC Staff and Workers’ Federation president HV Anantha Subbarao told reporters in Bengaluru that the agitation had been suspended till August 7 and employees had been instructed to return to work with immediate effect.
During the hearing of the matter, the Karnataka High Court came down heavily on the transport strike despite its interim order and warned of contempt proceedings, following which the KSRTC Staff and Workers’ Federation announced suspension of the agitation till August 7.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C M Joshi expressed strong displeasure over the strike being carried out despite the invocation of the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) and the court’s direction not to proceed with the agitation.
The Karnataka High Court also warned that the continuation of the strike would not be tolerated and would initiate contempt proceedings against the union leaders.
The Karnataka High Court extended its earlier interim order restraining the strike by two more days and directed the unions to submit an affidavit on Wednesday confirming that the strike has been called off.
During the hearing, the Advocate General informed the court that the strike had caused significant hardship to the public.
In response to a query from the bench regarding efforts at conciliation, details of past rounds of talks with the government were submitted.
The court observed that if there are issues then they should be resolved through talks with the government.
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