Pay commission: Here's what Mumbai BEST bus employees are demanding on salary increase, gratuity payments

Pay commission: The Mumbai BEST bus employee unions have made multiple demands from the Maharashtra state government regarding wage settlement and salary increases, implementation of recommendations from the 7th pay commission, besides payment of retirement dues and gratuity among others.

These demands were raised ahead of an indefinite strike called by employees of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking on Friday, 19 June, which was subsequently called off on Sunday night (21 June), following a meeting between their unions and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, as per a PTI report.

Notably, the public transport undertaking operates 2,766 buses which service nearly 25 lakh passengers daily. It is the city's second-largest public transport provider after the Mumbai local train network. Here's a look at the various demands made, what the state government has promised going forward, and how services were impacted by the strike…

What are Mumbai BEST bus employees' demands?

According to the report, the employees' unions made several demands including:

• Implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations,
• Settlement of retired employees' dues,
• Merging the BEST's budget with that of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC),

• Abolition of contractual arrangements in transport and electricity operations, and
• Absorption of wet-lease bus workers into BEST.

Sachin Ahir, action committee coordinator of the BEST Sanyukt Kamgar Kruti Samiti union announced that the strike had been cancelled late on Sunday, and that services would resume following discussions with Shinde.

What promises has Maharashtra government made?

Shinde said the Maharashtra government has agreed to the following with the Mumbai BEST employees' unions:

• BEST employees will receive an interim monthly pay increase of ₹3,000,
• BEST wet lease operators will receive interim monthly pay increase ₹2,000 until a new wage settlement is finalised,
• BEST administration to clear employees' pending gratuity dues within the current financial year,
• Government to strengthen BEST by procuring 5,000 electric buses over the next three years and making the necessary financial provisions in a phased manner.
• Shinde assured that the BEST administration's proposed revival plan would be submitted to the state government at the earliest and placed before the cabinet for approval.

“BEST is Mumbai's lifeline. It is essential, and the government is committed to addressing employees' concerns while improving public transport services,” Shinde said in his statement on Sunday.

BEST bus employees' strike: Here's how services were impacted

The report cited official data to add that even after the strike was called off, Mumbai bus services by 8 am on Monday morning was only 57% of the scheduled fleet with passengers' complaints of long wait times at several bus stops across the city.

Many commuters chose to travel by local trains, metro services and other modes of transport instead.

According to BEST's official turnout data, 1,436 buses were operational against the scheduled fleet of 2,527 buses on Monday. This included 165 of the 188 BEST-owned buses and 1,271 of the 2,339 wet-leased vehicles.

Further, it added that staff attendance also remained below the scheduled numbers — 835 BEST bus drivers reported for duty against a requirement of 1,454, while 1,325 conductors turned up against the scheduled strength of 2,198.

Attendance of supervisory staff stood at 178 bus starters against the scheduled 212 and 139 bus inspectors against 206.

In the wet-lease category, 883 drivers reported for duty against the scheduled 2,370, while only 198 conductors turned up against a requirement of 752, the data showed.

(With inputs from PTI)