Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC workers call off strike after talks with state government

Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC contract workers called off their strike after talks with the Punjab government produced a written agreement on their main demands.

Bus services are expected to resume immediately on all routes after two days of disruption, ending a standoff that had threatened a wider shutdown of the state transport system.

Talks and agreement

The breakthrough came after discussions chaired by the principal secretary, transport, with senior department officials and union representatives.

According to the agreement, the government will begin the process of withdrawing cases against arrested protesters and send the proposal to the home department within three days. The transport department will also forward its report to the personnel department and consider outsourced workers with three or more years of service for contractual absorption.

The union said both the cases issue and the regularisation issue are to be addressed within a month.

What the deal covers

The government also said new state-owned buses would begin arriving within a month.

It further agreed that kilometre-scheme bus operations would not be expanded while that scheme remains under a court stay.

The union said it will meet Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar in the next few days to discuss blacklisted employees and rejected appeals.

Union leaders warned they would resume agitation if the assurances are not implemented.

Why it matters

The dispute has centered on contract workers across Punjab's state transport network, including Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC. It has also reflected broader tensions over regularisation, arrests of workers and the role of the kilometre scheme in bus operations.

For now, the agreement defuses a transport labour standoff that had already affected services and threatened further disruption.