Why Mumbai's motormen are on strike

More than 1,000 motormen from Mumbai's Central and Western Railway, which form the backbone of the city's commuters, have been on a hunger strike for the past 30 hours, and refused to resume their duties unless their demands are met.

Three hundred and ninety-seven WR motormen and more than 600 CR motormen have united at the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in south Mumbai, demanding a pay hike and weekly offs.

A motorman, who wants to remain anonymous, said, "We are supposed to work seven hours and 26 minutes a day throughout the year without any weekly offs. This is insane. We should be entitled to a weekly off. We don't mind if they extend our working time to eight hours a day and give us a weekly off instead."

Their other demand concerns the grade given to motormen. They claim a discrepancy in the awarding of grades whereby junior motormen have been promoted over seniors.

"Assistant drivers who have been driving at the speed of 130km/hour have been promoted. This is an insult. How can we work under our assistants?" said the motorman.

He also said their wage was not proportionate to their kilometre allowance -- they have been working more hours and are paid less.

The travel allowance -- that has been decided for all railway staff -- has not been revised. The motormen are demanding that their travel allowance be substantially increased to match their increased workload.

The motorman rediff.com spoke to explained that the motorman's cabin has two people -- train guard and driver. The driver, he said, came under the running staff category and is exposed to maximum risk, which is why the the motormen are demanding increased pay for the running category staff.

At press time, only 20 per cent of Mumbai's trains are functional, which has brought the bustling city to a near standstill, with roads jammed with vehicular transport. Anticipating trouble, the city police has increased security at CST, and 170 motormen have been arrested for creating obstructions.

Many of the striking motormen have fallen ill and have been admitted at nearby hospitals. "Even if our strength reduces, we will protest till our demands are met," said the motorman.