Mumbai: Striking bus staff demand more amenities, BEST’s trade unions join stir

AC BEST buses parked at the Magathane depot on August 3 amid the ongoing strike. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Bus commuters' woes showed no sign of ending on Friday as wet-lease workers held the BEST undertaking to ransom for the third consecutive day. Eighteen of the city's 27 bus depots were affected and over 1,375 buses did not ply. The state government pressed Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses into service on city routes. BEST's trade unions jumped into the agitation and supported the wet-lease staff's strike call, bringing five key demands of theirs to the notice of the chief minister's office.

"As per a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on June 11, 2019, it was mandatory and legally binding on the BEST administration to maintain 3,337 self-owned buses in its fleet but it has obtained about 1,800 buses on the wet-lease model and has not respected the MoU. Moreover, workers on leased buses are not being treated properly," said Shashank Sharad Rao of Sangharsh Kamgaar Karmachari Union.

"Wet-leased bus drivers and conductors are not being provided with amenities such as waiting rooms, canteens, toilets and independent facilities for women staff, which are mandatory under the Motor Vehicles Act. In addition to this, the wet-leased staff is being mistreated at bus depots and not being given salaries on a par with regular drivers. We have put forth a demand of five points," he said.

"Their prime demands are to be absorbed as staff with regular wages, disbursal of salaries as per existing staff standards, retention of salary even if contractors change, regularisation as BEST staff and that all mandatory facilities be provided as per the Motor Vehicles Act," Rao added.

A BEST spokesperson said, "Today's protest includes workers of SMT, Mateshwari, Tata, Hansa, Olectra and Switch. However, 76, 35 and 162 buses respectively of SMT, Mateshwari and Hansa ran operations.
The undertaking has been making all efforts to run its self-owned buses so as not to inconvenience passengers and it has issued directives to business organisations to find a solution on an urgent basis. The companies will also face penalties and fines as per the original contract."

Bus fleets from over 18 depots - Backbay, Colaba, Worli, Pratkisha Nagar, Mumbai Central, Anik, Deonar, Dharavi, Kala Killa, Shivaji Nagar, Ghatkopar, Mulund, Majas, Santacruz, Gorai, Malwani, Oshiwara and Magathane - were badly affected. At present the undertaking has a fleet of about 3,061 buses of which 1,671 belong to wet-lease contractors. The undertaking has said it will penalise contractors and levy fines of R5,000 per bus per day as long as the strike continues.

The BEST issued a press note on Friday evening, stating that it had no role to play in the strike. "Not a single BEST employee is part of the strike. The striking employees are workers hired by private wet-lease contractors and the undertaking has no connection or stand on the various demands raised by them. The BEST has no role to play and cannot take any decision in this regard," it stated.

"We are trying our best to operate as many buses as possible to avoid commuter inconvenience and even roped in buses of the MSRTC for the purpose. On Friday, of the expected run of 150 MSRTC buses, the BEST undertaking operated 74 till 7.15 pm. In addition to this, we were able to run 360 wet-leased buses with the help of BEST's own staff," the BEST spokesperson said.

3,061
Total no of buses in BEST fleet