Mumbai: Passengers on state transport buses got a rude shock as the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation employees went on a flash strike at midnight on Thursday, demanding a salary hike. This is the second time in seven months that the employees have gone on strike.
Both AC and non-AC buses went off the roads across the state. An MSRTC official said, “The strike has affected operations at our depots in Parel, Mumbai Central, Uran, Panvel and Kurla and hit services to cities like Pune and Nashik.” Lalbaug resident Deepak Khillari said, “This weekend, we planned to go to Pune but on reaching Parel depot, we learnt about the strike.”
Workers affiliated to some unions boycotted work on Friday morning while others did not turn up out of fear. “There was no official strike call by any union as there is already a case in the court regarding the strike which occurred last October. Besides, the MSRTC management had deducted workers’ salaries for participating in the strike,” said an official. He further added they had not received any letter or intimation from any union for the strike. “It is being carried out by a section of workers and we are yet to find out what their demands are,” he said.
“Workers have not turned up voluntarily for morning duties, and this includes several drivers of our buses. Some drivers, however, reported for work at Mumbai Central depot and we have operated a few buses,” said an MSRTC official. There were reports of stone-pelting on buses in some districts outside Mumbai.
Rajan Yevle, former divisional secretary of the Maharashtra State Transport Kamgar Sanghatana, however, justified the employees’ actions and claimed that it was impossible for them to survive on their paltry salaries. “An ST bus driver gets only Rs 10-11,000 as monthly salary. Moreover, they must stay out of their homes for at least 15 days of the month as part of their work. For the past two years, they have been demanding a pay hike but the administration has been ignoring it,” Yevle said. The state transport undertaking has a fleet of around 17,500 buses and makes 56,756 trips every day. While it has an annual turnover of around Rs 7,000 crore, it incurs losses to the tune of Rs 2 crore every day.
