It is the second-biggest mode of transport in Mumbai after local trains, which ferry over 80 lakh passengers every day.
BEST
Strike : Lakhs of commuters in Mumbai continued to face hardships
on Wednesday as an indefinite strike called by the BEST, the city's
civic transport undertaking, entered its second day.
Despite
the Shiv Sena-affiliated union withdrawing from the protest, only
five buses of the Brihanmumbai
Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST), were plying on roads
this morning, a BEST official said.
Over
32,000 BEST employees went on an indefinite strike on Tuesday over
various demands, including higher salaries.
The
state government quickly moved to invoke the Maharashtra Essential
Services Maintenance Act (MESMA) against the striking BEST employees,
while its management asked them to end the stir and come to the
negotiating table.
BEST's
Kamgar Sena had late Tuesday evening said that 11,000 of its members
would go back to work on Wednesday to mitigate woes of Mumbaikars.
It
had also said that nearly 500 buses were expected to run on
Wednesday.
The
Sena union's announcement to withdraw from the protest invited sharp
criticism from BEST Workers' Union chief Shashank Rao who said the
former had shown its "true character".
The
BEST has a fleet of over 3,200 buses, which criss-cross the
metropolis and also operate services in the neighbouring Thane
district and Navi Mumbai.
It
is the second-biggest mode of transport in Mumbai after local trains,
which ferry over 80 lakh passengers every day.
"However,
only five buses were plying on the city roads on Wednesday morning,"
a senior BEST official said.
The
employees are demanding higher pay, merging budget of the loss-making
transport undertaking with that of the Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC), deliberations on new wage agreement, resuming
appointments on compassionate grounds and a bonus equivalent to that
of the civic body's employees.
The
protest by BEST employees coincided with the two-day nationwide bank
strike called by trade unions to protest the government's
"anti-worker" policies and labour reforms.
The
strike, declared illegal by the industrial court, on Tuesday affected
nearly 25 lakh daily commuters, who rely on BEST
buses to reach their destinations.
No comments:
Post a Comment