Autorickshaw strike today to be partial

Autorickshaw strike today to be partial
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: There’s some reprieve for those travelling by autorickshaws. There could be some autos on the roads on Friday. While the CITU Autorickshaw Drivers’ Union is going ahead with its strike on Friday, drivers affiliated to the Auto Drivers Unions’ Federation (AUDF) said they won’t support the strike as they didn’t want to “harass passengers”.
The Federation fears it could be forced to bow to pressure from the other union, resulting in a total strike. The CITU Union said it will not attack or harm drivers who wish to ply their autos.
The CITU Union, claiming to represent 17,000 drivers, said it decided to go ahead with the strike as the meeting with DC (Urban) M A Sadiq on fare hike was deferred to Jan 17. The meeting was deferred due to the visit of the CEC and not because of a failed agreement. “Had the meeting taken place, we would have called off the strike,” CITU Union member Sreenivas Murthy said. Auto federation will ply autos in batches
Bangalore: The CITU-backed Autorickshaw Drivers’ Union will observe a strike on Friday to demand revision of fares. However, the Auto Drivers Unions’ Federation (AUDF) said they won’t support the strike as they didn’t want to “harass passengers”. AUDF, which claims the support of 25,000 drivers, said it will ply autos after assessing the mood between 8 am and 9
“We will come out in batches of eight to 10 autos in different areas and run them with our own people to signal to the public that autos are plying. But drivers fear attacks on the autos or themselves. In that case, they may hesitate to come out. The hope is police protection and our trial run. If the run is successful, we’ll message everybody to get on to the roads,” Narayana Murthy of the AUDF said.
The unions are divided over the rise in minimum fare with the CITU-backed union asking for a minimum of Rs 20 and Rs 10 per subsequent km and AUDF asking for Rs 15 and Rs 7.50/km.
The AUDF has stated negotiations should be the only means to come to an agreement with the government on fare hike.