Haryana Roadways Strike Called Off: Buses to Run Normally on 5 and 6 November After Talks
Passengers across Haryana have received welcome relief, with Haryana Roadways employees calling off their proposed two-day strike for 5 and 6 November 2026. After talks in Chandigarh between the Transport Department and representatives of the roadways unions, the strike call was withdrawn, which means bus services across the state will continue normally on both days. For daily commuters, students and rural passengers who depend on state-run buses, the decision removes the disruption that a two-day stoppage would have caused.
The breakthrough came after a long meeting lasting about four and a half hours in Chandigarh. On one side were the Commissioner and Secretary of the Transport Department, and on the other were representatives of the Sanjha Morcha, the joint front of ten roadways employee unions. The unions taking part included the Haryana Transport Employees Union, the Haryana Roadways Workers Union, the Haryana Roadways Employees Federation, the drivers union and ministerial staff associations, among others. The length of the meeting itself showed how seriously both sides treated the talks, with each pending demand discussed in detail before an agreement was reached.
According to reports of the meeting, agreement was reached on settling several long-pending payments, including night allowance, overtime dues and medical bills of employees. The administration is understood to have assured the unions that these outstanding amounts would be cleared in a time-bound manner. That assurance was central to the decision to withdraw the strike, since delayed payments had been one of the main grievances behind the strike notice. Union leaders also pointed to the festive season and the interests of passengers, saying ordinary people should not face hardship at a time when travel demand remains high.
The dispute had been building since September. At a meeting with the Transport Minister on 8 September, fifteen demands of the employees had been agreed to, and the proceedings of that meeting were issued on 24 September. However, employees felt that follow-up action on those agreed demands had lagged, which led the joint front to serve notice of a two-day symbolic strike across the state on 5 and 6 November. The talks in Chandigarh have now broken that deadlock, at least for the immediate strike dates, and restored normal service for passengers.
Eight demands on which detailed discussion is still pending will be taken up again at a meeting with Cabinet Minister Anil Vij on 25 November. The unions have said they will wait for the outcome of that meeting before deciding their next step. For now, however, the message for passengers is clear: Haryana Roadways buses will run as usual on 5 and 6 November, and there will be no strike-related disruption to services. Passengers planning journeys on those days can travel as normal, while the remaining issues move to the 25 November discussion.
