The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) employees have again turned down Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s appeal by continuing their strike across the state.
Bus services were completely paralyzed in 250 depots for the past 15 days as several passengers faced hardships with no solution in sight to the issue.
Despite the suspension of 918 employees, several MSRTC workers are still firm on continuing the agitation until their demand for the corporation’s merger with the state government is met.
However, differences surfaced among various unions on the strike as some are keen to respond to a fresh call given for talks by Transport Minister Anil Parab. Even though MSRTC officers met, no meeting took place with the striking employees.
Parab said MSRTC would incur a massive loss if the strike continued. “It will be unfortunate if the employees will become victims of the politics,” he opined.
“I have made a fresh appeal to the employees to call off the strike as most of their demands except increment in the salary have been met. As per the high court order, a three-member committee has been established, and employees can make their demands before the committee headed by the chief secretary,” said Parab. He reminded that the high court has clearly said the strike is illegal.
