Mumbai: In a small relief for commuters, a Shiv Sena-affiliated union, part of the BEST Sahyukta Kranti Samiti (alliance of seven unions), withdrew from the ongoing strike, stating that 11,000 of its members would be back on the job on Wednesday. However, the remaining six unions have decided to continue with the strike, until they get a written confirmation on the fulfilment of their demands from the BMC.
On Tuesday, over 25 lakh commuters were affected, as negotiations between the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the BEST Sahyukta Kranti Samiti failed. The strike was called by Shashank Rao, the chairman of the BrihanMumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Workers’ Union on December 24, 2018.
The main demands included deliberation on new wage agreements, inclusion of the BEST budget in the BMC budget, bonuses in parity with those of civic body employees and resuming appointments on compassionate grounds. A fleet of over 3,200 buses of the BEST was stationed at the main depots, without a single bus plied on the roads. Ten buses were pelted with stones and one bus driver was injured.
The 3,337 BEST buses are the second largest mode of transport in Mumbai, after the Railways, which ferry over 80 lakh passengers every day. With its 35,000 employees on strike, BEST is expected to incur a loss of over Rs 3 crore daily. Rao said, “Since the meeting with the civic chief Ajoy Mehta failed, we are continuing with the strike. “The final decision to end the strike will depend on the response of the administration.”
An industrial court on Monday had declared the strike as illegal and restrained the labour unions and BEST staffers from going on strike. Rao in his defence said, they had not received a copy of the court order until they went on strike. Meanwhile, the Indian Railways and State Transport (ST) came to the rescue of stranded passengers. Four additional local services were run on the CSMT-Kalyan and CSMT-Panvel routes each. Twelve additional locals plied between Churchgate and Virar.
owever, commuters suffered after autorickshaws and Ola-Uber services decided to capitalise on the situation, with the former throwing tantrums and the latter resorting to surge pricing. Lekha Lad, a Sion resident who travels from CSMT to Colaba daily, was forced to wait at CSMT station for over an hour. “It was a bad experience as kaali-peelis were not willing to take me there and even though Uber-Ola complied, they were expensive,” said Lad.
The state government has invoked the Maharashtra Essential Service Maintenance Act (MESMA) against the striking employees. The strike is illegal and agitating staffers have been asked to resume work without delay considering the hardships faced by lakhs of commuters. They must understand the government has imposed MESMA,” said a senior civic official.
