All stakeholders have been asked to decide about the bus strike till 11 am today
Even as the strike by over 32,000 employees of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) entered the 8th day, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked all the stakeholders to decide about the bus strike till 11 am on Wednesday and apprise the court about it.
A bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice NM Jamdar had earlier underlined that "things cannot continue as they are" and had rebuked the union for continuing the strike despite setting up of a high power committee by the state government.
Shashank Rao, President of the BEST Workers' Union, told ADC, that the offer given by the administration is not encouraging and the union is in no mood to call off the strike. BEST employees were getting a salary lower than that of the sweepers in the BMC and we will think about going back to work only if we are convinced. Yet we will think over the court’s suggestion and take appropriate decision, he added.
On Tuesday, the court was informed that the BEST is ready to give 10-step increment to employees which will be implemented from February 2019 onwards. In turn, the court informed the union that the BEST administration will be asked to prepare a time-bound programme of pay revision and other issues. Also the administration has given an assurance to resolve the other issues across the table. As such they should call off the strike immediately.
The bench has been appealing to the union, the BMC, the Maharashtra government and BEST undertaking to solve the matter in a "congenial environment". Lawyer Datta Mane had filed a PIL last week, urging the HC to pass interim orders directing BEST workers to withdraw the strike immediately.
Over 3,700 buses are off the roads, leaving lakhs of commuters in trouble, since January 8, 2018. Striking workers have been seeking higher salaries and calling for the merger of the budgets of the BEST and its parent body BMC among other issues.
On Monday, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activists had disrupted ongoing works for the Coastal Road in Worli and Metro III projects in the Aarey Colony near suburban Goregaon to express solidarity with striking workers of BEST. Metro III, also known as the ColabaBandra-SEEPZ line, is a part of the metro system that will link south Mumbai's Cuffe Parade to SEEPZ in the north-central Mumbai.
NCP has blamed both the Shiv Sena and BMC for continuing the strike, despite Mumbaites facing hardships, whereas Aam Admi Party too echoed the similar sentiments and alleged that the government was “anti-worker”.