Thousands of employees of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) went on strike on Friday to protest against the wage revision recently proposed by State Transport Minister Diwakar Raote.
Sandeep Shinde, president of the Maharashtra ST Kamgar Sanghatana, said the strike was not called by the union. It was an impromptu act by several workers against the ministers’ proposed wage increases. “Workers are particularly angry at the minister asking those not in favour of the proposed wage revision to quit and join on contract. They are also angry at the arbitrary nature in which the wage revision was declared,” said Mr. Shinde. A statement issued by the union said the administration issued a notification on June 5, which states that workers who did not want to accept the wage revision had to notify the administration at the respective depots by June 9, tender their resignations and re-join on contract.
Due to the strike, the corporation lost revenue worth ₹15 crore. MSRTC is one of the country’s largest state transport wings and has around 609 stations. It transports nearly 70 lakh passengers a day. On Friday, around 30% of its buses ran from its 250 depots across the State, with eight depots shut. Of the 35,249 daily services, nearly 25,000 were cancelled across the State. Officials said the strike was more effective in Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, Solapur and Pune, while Marathwada and Vidarbha regions were not as badly hit. Abhijit Bhosale, MSRTC spokesperson, said they will initiate disciplinary action against the agitating workers. “We are conducting an inquiry against all those who participated in the strike and will issue suspension orders after the inquiry.”
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State transport workers had gone on an indefinite strike in October last year around Diwali, to demand higher wages that were on par with the seventh pay commission. The strike was declared illegal by the Bombay High Court after it went on for four days. MSRTC employs nearly one lakh workers.