BEST staff began strike in Mumbai; Commuters face inconvenience
With talks failing between the labour unions and management of Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) on Monday, commuters may face inconvenience as approximately 35,000 BEST employees will go on indefinite strike from today. Owing to a lack of coordination between authorities, no private buses have been arranged, and other modes of public transport are likely to feel the pressure.
Private buses are also not arranged as they are threatened by the labour unions. Sushant Samant, BEST Committee member and BEST kamagar Sena leader, said that they would not join the strike, but they would also not ply their buses.
The leader of BEST workers' union Shashank Rao said talks had failed and BEST's general manager Surendrakumar Bagde did not attend the meeting.
"A personnel department officer conducted the meeting, so nothing fruitful was expected from it," Rao said. Bagde did not respond to calls or text messages too.
The state government has invoked provisions of the Maharashtra Essential Service Maintenance Act (MESMA) and an industrial court has restrained the unions from going on the strike, but BEST Sanyukta Kamgar Kruti Samiti (BSKKS), a joint action committee of labour unions, will go on strike from today. The unions' demands include higher-grade pay, merging BEST's budget with that of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and bonuses similar to those given to BMC staff.
However, BEST's spokesperson said that they have written to Maharashtra State Road Transport Undertaking to arrange extra buses if required. Generally, the state government allows private buses to ferry passengers during strikes.
But, a senior official from the regional transport office (RTO) said it had not received any communication about arranging private buses for public convenience. "We will do all the needful things if required," said Shekhar Channe, transport commissioner of Maharashtra, and confirmed no communication had come from the BEST.
To avoid damage to its buses, BEST has put wire mesh on windshields of several buses, but no information has been released about the steps taken for the convenience of passengers. Meanwhile, citizen's forum Aamchi Mumbai Aamchi BEST (AMAB) declared its support to the BEST workers' strike on Monday. Basically, they are asking for getting themselves converted into BMC transports.
