The indefinite strike called by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Workers’ Union entered its third day on Thursday. Not even one bus left the 27 depots in Mumbai, The Times of India reported. While several bus drivers and conductors turned up outside several of the depots, none of them reportedly worked.
As many as 25 lakh commuters were being affected every day as more than 32,000 employees were striking, according to NDTV. BEST has a fleet of over 3,200 buses and operates services in the neighbouring Thane district and Navi Mumbai.
The strike was called by the BEST Sanyukta Kamgar Kruti Samiti, a joint committee of many labour unions. Their demands include merging the company’s budget with that of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, resuming appointments, more wages and resolving the concern of employee housing. The Shiv Sena Union, which had backed the shutdown on its first day, withdrew its support on Tuesday.
BEST General Manager Surendra Kumar Bagde said the administration has imposed the Essential Services Maintenance Act on those protesting and is repeatedly asking them to resume duty. “Under the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act, we have issued notices to the agitating workers to vacate their flats given by the BEST as they have indulged in a strike, which has been held as illegal by the court,” Bagde said. “But, this is something that we don’t want to do. We request all our workers to resume duty and have dialogue with us.”
The management on Wednesday issued notices to more than 2,000 employees of the civic transport body and held a dialogue with union leader Shashank Rao. “There were few rounds of meetings with officials, but no positive result came as the administration did not pay heed to our genuine demands,” Rao said. “We are ready to sit and talk even in midnight.”
An unidentified official said Bagde was expected to hold meetings with union leader Shashank Rao, BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta and Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, PTI reported.
Ashish Chemburkar, chairperson of the BEST committee that handles day-to-day affairs, said meetings will be held with representatives of the protesting staffers on Thursday. “We are hopeful of arriving at a concrete solution today,” Chemburkar told PTI. “Everyone wants an end to this deadlock for the sake of Mumbaikars.”
Meanwhile, the Central Railway and Western Railway have decided to operate additional suburban trains to ease the situation.
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!