Bengaluru: The commuters of the Namma Metro heaved a sigh of relief as the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Employees’ Union (BMREU) decided to postpone their indefinite strike on Monday, June 4. The strike has been deferred by at least 10 days.

The decision of BMREU follows the Karnataka High Court’s order on Monday, urging the union not to go on strike. The court also directed the state government to hold a tri-party meeting with the BMRCL management and employees to resolve the outstanding issues by June 18.

After several rounds of talks with BMRCL management failed to end the deadlock, the BMREU had decided to go on a strike from June 4.

Foreseeing the possibility of a strike, BMRCL management had warned the employees of strict disciplinary action in an effort to discourage the employees. It had also made backup plans by bringing in 90 train operators and Kochi metro rail staff so as to ensure uninterrupted train service to the 3.50 lakh commuters who use the Namma Metro daily.

The BMREU has been demanding recognition to the union, salary hike, allowance for night duty, the abolition of contract system, keeping the metro rail system out of Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) among others.

It may be recalled that the metro services came to a standstill for seven hours after BMREU went on a sudden strike in protest against the assault on their employee by a policeman in July last year.

The passengers were a worried lot as there was no clarity on the strike. Many complained that they could not make alternate arrangements at the last in the traffic congestion of the city.