BEST or Bust? Why Did Mumbai’s Bus Staffers Go on Strike?

Commuters who swear by Mumbai’s BEST buses can finally breathe a sigh of relief after BEST employees’ union called off its indefinite strike after the Bombay High Court order. With the court ordering BEST to increase employees’ pay, the transport undertaking will have to now mediate with the union and work out a middle ground to ensure employees’ needs are taken care of.But why did over 30,000 employees go on a 9-day-long strike? Read on to find out.The two key demands that BEST workers had were – increase in pay scale, especially for junior-grade employees, and merging the BEST budget with that of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).The Bombay High Court has now ordered BEST to provide a 10-step increase in salary for its employees, to be effective from 20 January. Aside from salaries, the court has also instructed the BMC to merge the BEST budget with that of the civic body at the earliest.While these were the employees’ two key demands, the court also directed BEST to begin mediation with its workers on the other issues that were raised.During a plea being heard by the Bombay High Court against the strike earlier, the BEST employees’ union had argued that there are employees working as daily-wage labourers in the organisation for more than 13 years and around 50,000 employees are earning less than Rs 15,000 each month.“BMC gets Rs 5,000 crore as interest but still they are not ready to spend the money on BEST. The resolution of merger has been passed by BMC and BEST around one-and-a-half years ago. Our demands have been discussed but what we are asking is for the survival of our employees. It is not possible to survive in a city like Mumbai on a Rs 15,000 salary. Let the state government decide on merger, but the basic salary issue should be resolved at the earliest.”BEST employees union to Bombay HCThe ‘Rs 5,000 crore interest’ that BEST union leaders had mentioned to the court is received by the civic body against its stash of fixed deposits worth over Rs 61,000 crores made across 30 different banks.Apart from raising concerns about the amount, the BEST workers’ union had also sought timely payment of salaries for its employees.“We don’t get our salaries on time. We never get our salaries on the 1st of the month. It comes in around the 10th or 12th of the month. How do we survive and manage our children’s expenses till then?”Sarla Gaikwad, BEST employee’s wife BEST Strike Cripples Mumbai: Why Hasn’t BMC Taken a Stand?Apart from increase in wages, another key demand the BEST workers’ union had was merging BEST’s budget with that of the BMC. The main reason for this is financial security. One of India’s richest civic bodies, the BMC had a budget of Rs 27,258 crore for 2018-19. The BMC also has fixed deposits worth over Rs 61,000 crore.With the BEST reeling under annual losses amounting to over Rs 1,000 crore, the cash-rich BMC could help the transport undertaking tide over these financial difficulties. Besides, merging their budget with the BMC’s could give BEST employees a greater sense of job security.Addressing the issue on 13 January 2019, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had assured BEST employees that his party will keep its promise and merge the BEST budget with that of the BMC, news agency PTI reported.“The financial condition of the BEST has deteriorated. I had given the promise of merger of the budgets and that will be fulfilled. A solution can be found only through talks. Even though the BEST strike issue is in the court, I am ready to be part of the discussion if necessary.”Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena Chief They Want to Abolish Posts, Say BEST Employees Fearing Job CutsTo minimise losses, the BMC has been considering opting for semi-privatisation of BEST. As part of the solution, 1,250 buses would be ‘hire purchased’ from a private organisation that will provide drivers and maintenance for those buses. Only the conductors would be assigned by BEST.“The municipal commissioner has suggested a formula which says that in the coming year, 1,250 buses will be hire purchased. It will be partly privatised. Recently, about 450 buses were ordered but the union went to court and got a stay. But, throughout the year 2019-20, 1,250 buses are being expected for hire purchase that will be wet lease.”Ravi Raja, leader of Opposition, BMC The Shiv Sena, however, has been non-committal about privatisation of BEST, fearing an uproar from employees. Thackeray recently pointed out that privatisation could not be the final solution.“We will not let ownership slip away from us (BMC). There could be privatisation of few buses but no final decision has been taken yet.”Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena Chief BEST employees are vehemently opposed to the idea of privatisation. With at least 900 BEST buses being scrapped over the last five years and the number of employees decreasing by over 2,000 in the last one year alone, union leaders fear privatisation would result in job cuts.“They had a fleet of 4,600, now its 3,200. Proportionately, they have reduced the number of drivers and conductors. Now, the size of Mumbai and demand of passengers have increased but they have reduced the number of buses. This is a clear indication that they don’t want to have their own fleet and they want to privatise.” Kedar Hombalkar, former BEST committee member However, BMC standing committee members and senior lawyers have said BEST employees would not lose their jobs even if the transport undertaking is privatised. It is the obligation of the state government to ensure the employees are absorbed in another department or they accept Voluntary Retirement Scheme.The workers, meanwhile, have been raising concerns about the organisation’s decision to not replace retired drivers and conductors.“BEST has been around for about 50-60 years, so a lot of people working in it are in the above-50 age group. The ratio of older people in BEST is higher than those younger. They are not retrenching drivers but they are also not replacing the drivers who are retiring.” Ashok Datar, Transport expert

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BEST or Bust? Why Did Mumbai’s Bus Staffers Go on Strike?

The Bombay HC ordered a 10-step pay hike for BEST employees and a budget merger with the BMC on Wednesday.