BEST employees on indefinite strike: What are their demands and what it means for Mumbai

Public transport buses in Mumbai were hit as employees of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) went on an indefinite strike on Friday. The staff staged a massive protest at the Dharavi depot, demanding the fulfilment of long-pending grievances and a salary hike.

The strike commenced despite an ad-interim order passed by an industrial court restraining employees from stopping work (PTI)

A heavy police force was deployed at the spot to maintain law and order, ANI news agency reported. “The state government must meet the BEST's demands as soon as possible. Otherwise, the movement will continue for a long time until our demands are met...” one of the protestors told ANI.

The strike commenced despite an ad-interim order passed by an industrial court restraining employees from stopping work, and the Maharashtra government invoking the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act (MESMA), which prohibits the disruption of essential services, PTI news agency reported.

What are the workers' key demands?

Among the key demands raised by the employees are the merger of BEST's budget with that of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), settling legal dues of retired employees, implementation of Seventh Pay Commission recommendations for 2016-2026 period, abolishing contractual arrangements in the transport and electricity departments, and absorption of wet-lease bus workers into BEST, according to PTI.

Speaking about the financial issues being faced by employees, BEST workers' union leader Ranganath Satavase said, “Those who retired did not get their money since 2022, the waitlisted workers are not getting even the minimum wages, so it is the responsibility of the administration, the government to pay that.” Satavase also expressed concerns regarding the government's plan for all depots to be developed on a PPP model. “…Development on PPP model means the government is promising to give them on rent for 99 years, so in such a situation, whether this BEST will run or not, this worry is troubling the workers,” the union leader told ANI.

Dinesh, one of the protestors, said the wage agreement for the workers for the years 2016 to 2021 had not been finalised, and the retired workers had not received gratuity payments. Another employee said the salary tax and merger issues were passed in 2019. “The BMC sent it to the city development account. They don't pass it. Neither the previous government nor the present government passed it...” Swami Mali told ANI.

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What does the strike mean for commuters?

The strike will affect public transport services in Mumbai, leaving hundreds of thousands of commuters in a lurch. With the BEST being Mumbai's second-largest public transport provider after the suburban railway network, it carries around 25 lakh passengers on a daily basis through its bus services, according to ANI. It operates around 2,700 buses, most of which are hired by private operators on wet-leases.

Further, it supplies electricity to more than 10 lakh consumers in south and central Mumbai. On Monday, hardly any buses from the 27 BEST depots could leave, with striking employees allegedly preventing it, ANI reported. This will therefore force commuters to depend on alternate modes of transport, like autorickshaws, taxis, app-based cabs and the Metro.