KSRTC Swift employees denied salary; management says pay withheld over insufficient duty days

Thiruvananthapuram: Around 200 employees of KSRTC Swift have not received their salaries. The management, however, said the salaries were withheld because the employees had not completed the required number of duty days last month. The employees countered that they could not complete their duties because services were cancelled.

As per KSRTC Swift rules, employees must complete at least 16 duty days a month. The management alleged that this requirement had not been met. However, employees said they could not complete 16 duties because trips had to be cancelled when buses developed technical problems.

They alleged that the management had taken retaliatory action against employees who were willing to work but could not report for duty due to such technical issues.

The employees said they received their September salary only by mid-October and were yet to receive their salary for the previous month.

Trade union protests are not permitted in KSRTC Swift, and union activities are currently banned. Employees also alleged that they are sometimes forced to pay from their own pockets to repair buses when they break down.