BEST bus strike called off after union leaders meet Eknath Shinde and Pratap Sarnaik

An MSRTC bus ferries passengers amid the BEST strike, in Kandivli on Sunday. PIC/SATEJ SHINDE

Striking union leaders of BEST met Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik on Sunday evening, following which the three-day strike was called off late at night. With zero buses running on Sunday, the undertaking had arranged buses from the Maharashtra State Transport for the sake of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) students.

The strike, led by an umbrella body of 12 unions, began on Friday over demands, including the merger of BEST's budget with that of the BMC, a one-time settlement of pending legal dues of retired employees, and implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations for 2016-2026.

Striking union leader Uday Ambonkar told Mid-Day on Sunday, "Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik are meeting us this evening. We are hopeful of the discussions and faster resolution of the strike. We apologise to Mumbaikars for this strike and are thankful to the workers who have come together despite not having a single political leadership, but with genuine issues concerning workers.'

Voices

Harshad Joshi, BEST commuter
‘I hail an auto or rely on Uber. If both are unavailable, I take an overcrowded suburban train to get to my workplace. With buses off the roads, more people will opt for personal vehicles, thereby increasing traffic. Already, roads are dug up due to various ongoing works. The absence of buses and additional personal vehicles will add to the chaos on roads'

Gandharva Purohit, Commuter
‘With buses unavailable, trains and Metro are the only viable options for me. Share autos are not safe, but I need to stick to them at the last mile due to lack of other options. Metro Line 1 is running beyond its capacity, while the two Metro Lines that could've helped me (4 and 6) are not complete. BEST remains crucial in terms of last-mile and east-west connectivity as local trains can only take one north and south'

Shubham Padave, Commuter
‘The only option left for me was to walk all the way to the station and take a train. We have to depend on trains entirely because share autos are not available in our locality, and paying '60 one way is not affordable'