Bus services in Chennai and elsewhere normalized from last night following a direction by the High Court of Madras to the striking Transport staff members to commence work at the earliest.

The Court also appointed Justice Padmanabhan (retired) to iron out the issues between the strikers and the management (Transport Department of the State Govt.). Following the Court’s intervention, strike was effectively called off late last night. The Court advised the strikers in plain terms to return to work at once.

“Nobody seems to bother about people and the difficulties they endure because of the strike by transporters. Union representatives view this as a ‘labour issue’ and it is up to the Unions to get involved in talks with the management,” the Court observed tersely. Transport staff members have been on strike for the past 8 days, crippling bus services in the city and elsewhere.

A PIL petition was filed with the Court requesting it to bring to an end the strike by transport staff as people wanting to rush to their native places from Chennai would find it tough if the strike prolonged further. The strikers agreed to the State Govt.’s proposal to increase their pay via 2.44 times hike formula and called off the strike.