Nine days after they first held the city’s red lifeline to ransom, striking Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) employees returned to work, with the Route 453 bus rolling out of the Wadala depot at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
This was the longest BEST strike in 37 years, and one during which none of the 3,337 buses were seen on the roads. Major strikes in 2007 and 1997 had only lasted three days. In the nine days since last Tuesday, the BEST lost ₹25 crore to ₹27 crore in revenue.
Jubilant: BEST workers congratulate union leader Shashank Rao after the strike is called off on Wednesday afternoon.
At the end of the day, all 32,000 striking workers were back behind wheels after the Bombay High Court appointed former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court F.I. Rebello as a mediator to resolve the issues raised by the workers.
For now, as an interm relief, 13,000 junior grade workers will get a 10-step salary increment from January.
By about 7 p.m., 893 buses were back on the roads, much to the joy of the commuters who had suffered long queues waiting for taxis and shelling out extra bucks.
Psychology student Manasi Chindarkar (21), whose daily commute is from Bandra to Matunga, said, “I cannot wait to catch a bus for college from Thursday. I had missed travelling in the comfort of a bus and was commuting by train. Now, I can again revise my notes and read books en route.”
The road ahead
Earlier in the day, drama unfolded in the High Court as the unions, BEST and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) played hardball over setting the terms of references for mediation, which is likely to go on for the next three months.
A BEST worker checks tyre pressure of a bus before it goes back on the road.
The terms of references covered a wage increment of 10 steps — equivalent to a ₹1,250 raise in the basic salary — the merger of the BEST and BMC budgets, and implementation of a string of efficiency measures as well as the charter of demands.
‘Hard-fought victory’
The court proceedings were followed by a gathering of jubilant workers at Wadala depot. Almost three years after they first placed the charter of demands before the State government and the BEST administration, the mood was of a win achieved after a hard fight. Shashank Rao, leader of the BEST Workers’ Union, told the roaring gathering, “We have fought a victorious battle, and have got our dues in writing. What we have been demanding for three years will now happen in three months. When a fresh agreement is signed, you will get arrears from April 1, 2016.”
Unsuccessful meetings
The three-member committee appointed by the State under Chief Secretary D.K. Jain met on January 11, 13, 14, but could not reach a settlement. “The committee met on January 14 at 9 p.m. and held discussions with the union until late in the night. However, no settlement could be reached,” read the minutes of the meeting accessed by The Hindu .
Family members of BEST workers celebrate the end of the strike at Ghatkopar BEST Colony on Wednesday evening.
“The committee has been making every effort to bring a negotiated settlement between the [Union and BEST]. However, this may take more time. In the interim, given the citizens are being inconvenienced, the honourable court may consider directing the union to withdraw the strike,” it said.
