Maha bus workers end strike ahead of Ganesh festival

The two-day-old strike by Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) employees was called off on late Wednesday evening following government's assurance of a salary hike, union leaders said, providing a relief to passengers planning travel during the ensuing Ganesh festival.

An action committee of trade unions representing employees of the state-run corporation announced an end to the strike after a meeting with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who agreed to give a Rs 6,500 per month hike in basic salary to MSRTC staffers, fulfilling their main demand.

The hike will come into effect retrospectively from April 2020, said a release from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).

"We are calling off our agitation as the chief minister has assured a salary hike to MSRTC employees," Sandeep Shinde, a leader of the Maharashtra ST Kamgar Sanghtana, told PTI, after the meeting with Shinde.

Shirang Barge, another union leader, said at the meeting, which took place at Sahyadri Guest House in south Mumbai, the chief minister, who is also MSRTC chairman, agreed to a Rs 6,500 salary hike for employees.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, state Industries Minister Uday Samant said employee unions were demanding a Rs 7,000 hike in basic salary.

Besides, the government has acceded to trade unions' other demands like providing clean toilets for women employees and concretisation of bus depots, Samant informed.

A large number of employees of MSRTC, which has a nearly 90,000-strong workforce, went on a strike post-Monday midnight in support of their various demands, including a salary hike and parity with state government staffers.

The end of the strike has come as a big relief for people planning to travel to their native places from cities during the 10-day Ganesh festival beginning on September 7.

Even as the employees called off the strike, the state-owned transport corporation faces the uphill challenge of arranging more than 3,600 special Ganapati special buses, which are scheduled to depart on Thursday, MSRTC officials said.

As per MSRTC officials, more than 1,000 Ganapati special buses were scheduled to depart for the coastal Konakn from Mumbai, Thane and Palghar divisions on September 4.

Somehow they managed to arrange those many numbers of buses, but the number of buses booked for September 5 was 3,618, they said.

An official said passengers might have to face some delays, but they will manage to provide all booked buses now that the strike has been called off.

Another official said the task could have been easy for them if the breakthrough meeting between the Chief Minister and union leaders had taken place in the afternoon. As the decision came late night, the arrival of buses in Mumbai and other places will get delayed.

Madhav Kusekar, vice-chairman and managing director, MSRTC, told PTI that they will strive to provide all booked Ganapati special buses on Thursday.

"We (MSRTC) provide them last mile connectively. Otherwise, they have to shell out hefty amount for taxis and autorickshaws reaching their villages away from railway stations," a senior official said.

The action committee of 11 trade unions in MSRTC welcomed the chief minister's decision on pay hike.

As per the CMO release, at the beginning of the meeting, Shinde expressed displeasure over MSRTC employee unions going on strike during the festive season despite the state government being positive about their demands.

At the meeting, the Chief Minister directed officials to make a blueprint for improving MSRTC employees rest houses and appealed to employees to try to increase the revenue of the state-owned corporation, the release said.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state minister Uday Samant were present at the meeting besides trade union leaders and officials of the state government and MSRTC.