Mumbai: Power Supply South mumbai and civil bus services are likely to be affected as a joint action committee of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (THE BEST) employees of the enterprise announced an indefinite strike from midnight on Thursday in support of their demands.
The committee is pressing for a number of demands, including merging the utility’s budget with that of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The BEST Sanyukt Kamgar Kruti Samiti, an action committee comprising 12 unions representing BEST employees, made the announcement at a rally in Dadar on Thursday evening, stating that their long-awaited demands had not been addressed within the stipulated time.
BEST is the second largest public transport provider in Mumbai after the suburban rail network.
Apart from operating bus services, it supplies electricity to more than 10 lakh consumers in the island city. About 25 million passengers travel on BEST buses every day.
The civic enterprise currently operates a fleet of about 2,700 buses, of which only 243 are owned by BEST, while the rest are employed by private charter operators.
Among the main demands of the employees are the merger of the BEST budget with that of the BMC, a one-time settlement of statutory liabilities of retired employees, implementation of the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission for the period 2016-2026, removal of contractual arrangements in the transport and electricity departments and absorption of BEST bus leasing workers.
The committee has also demanded recruitment to vacant posts, operation of 6,000 buses under BEST ownership, promotions for qualified employees and rejection of privatization and public-private partnership (PPP) models in the enterprise.
