Mumbai: The on-going strike by BEST employees enters its seventh day today, as a meeting between the BEST Kamgaar Samyukta Kriti Samiti, the umbrella outfit of the BEST labour unions on strike and the management of the undertaking failed to end its impasse on Saturday.
Over 32,000 BEST employees have been on indefinite strike since Tuesday, January 8 and its fleet of 3,337-odd buses have been off the roads, causing severe inconvenience to several lakh commuters. The union is yet to receive any written proposal from BEST management to address the concerns of the workers on strike.
“Only four drivers out of the 2,610 on the rolls, and none of the 2,764 conductors were present on Sunday which meant that not a single bus plied,” said an official. Shashank Rao, President, BEST Union said the Bombay High Court had directed the state government to set up a committee on Friday. “The talks were positive, unlike the others till now.
The committee members at least heard our demands. However, the strike will continue until a concrete solution to the problem is given to us in writing,” said Rao. However, the BEST administration, which is reluctant to concede the demands of the workers, has plans to hike basic fares, thereby making consumers pay for their losses. Minimum fares are expected to be hiked by 50 per cent — from Rs 8 to Rs 12.
This is being done to assimilate the additional need of 33 per cent of finance BEST will need, if the demands are accepted. Commuters also complained of exorbitant auto fares in some parts of suburbs such as Kurla, Jogeshwari, Andheri. Refusals are rampant among both autos in suburbs and taxis in the Island city.
Activists have slammed both BEST and BMC for this proposed hike. “Increasing the fares is wrong because it will directly impact the rider ship. Transferring the burden to the consumers is the worst move. Instead, the corporation should think of other ways to deal with this situation,” said Vidyadhar Date, an activist.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has decided to run 27 special buses to ferry passengers to their workplace. “Five buses ferried commuters from Andheri East to Seepz, six from Kurla to Mahul, two from Dadar to Panvel, and four other buses from Dadar to Mantralaya this morning. Fifteen state buses were operated for office-goers from Thane to Mantralaya,” said MSRTC spokesperson Abhijit Bhosale.
