Mumbai's Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking has secured a temporary order from an industrial court restraining employee unions from proceeding with an indefinite strike that was scheduled to begin at midnight on Thursday, as reported by PTI.
The development came hours after the BEST Sanyukt Kamgar Kruti Samiti, a joint action committee comprising 12 employee unions, announced plans to launch an indefinite strike, claiming that several long-pending demands had remained unresolved despite repeated appeals and a deadline set for action.
Services face uncertainty
The strike call had raised concerns over potential disruptions to Mumbai's public transport network and electricity supply. BEST is the city's second-largest public transport provider after the suburban railway system and supplies electricity to more than 1 million consumers across south Mumbai.
Around 2.5 million passengers rely on BEST bus services every day, making any disruption a major concern for commuters across the financial capital.
Key employee demands
Union representatives have been pressing for a range of measures, including the merger of BEST's budget with that of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), implementation of Seventh Pay Commission recommendations for the 2016-2026 period, and settlement of pending legal dues for retired employees.
The committee has also sought an end to contractual employment arrangements in the transport and electricity divisions, absorption of wet-lease bus workers into the undertaking, and recruitment to vacant positions.
Ownership and expansion
Employees are additionally demanding that BEST operate a fleet of 6,000 buses under its own ownership, provide promotions to eligible staff, and reject privatisation and public-private partnership models within the undertaking.
BEST currently operates approximately 2,700 buses. Of these, only 243 are owned by the civic transport body, while the remaining fleet is sourced from private operators under wet-lease agreements.
Awaiting next steps
While the industrial court's interim order has temporarily halted the proposed strike, the dispute highlights ongoing tensions between the undertaking's management and employee unions over wages, staffing, operational policies and the future structure of the organisation.