Willing to revise wages of BEST staff and merge budget with BMC’S, says Uddhav
MUMBAI: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said he agreed to the merger of the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport’s (BEST) and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) budget, but said unreasonable demands from the striking BEST staff would not be accepted. Uddhav also blamed union leader late Sharad Rao, father of current union leader Shashank Rao, for signing a “faulty wage agreement’’, which he said would be rectified.
More than 35,000 employees have been on strike since January 8, demanding better wages among other benefits.
According to Uddhav, some adjustments need to be taken in view of the precarious financial condition of the BEST undertaking, but assured that all safeguards would be in place to ensure there are no job cuts. “We have agreed to the merger of the BEST and the BMC budget and a resolution has even been passed. However, at the same time, as the BEST is running into losses, some steps to make it a no-loss one or at least to reduce the profits, need to be taken,” said Uddhav. He said the proposal has been given to the unions and it can also be negotiated.
Uddhav said the previous agreement was signed by late Sharad Rao and the BEST administration. “I feel we need to rectify the faulty wage revision signed at that time, but we need to keep in mind that BEST’S financial condition is bad. We can give some hike to the workers,” he added.
He said that contract leasing of some routes was also a contentious issue. “However, we are committed to ensuring not a single worker will lose his job. Both Sena and BMC will take care of this,” Uddhav added. He said some suggestions such as reducing the number of buses on unprofitable routes, small mini buses are needed to cut losses.
Uddhav said BEST faces competition from Metro, Monorail, Uber and Ola services and such improvements are needed to
I feel we need to rectify the faulty wage revision signed at that time, but we need to keep in mind that BEST’S financial condition is bad. We can give some hike to the workers. UDDHAV THACKERAY, Shiv Sena chief
keep up with them.
With regards to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s (MNS) threat to take out a protest on the road from Monday and also accusations of favouritism by not collecting of dues of Rs320 crore from a builder for its Mahim depot project, Uddhav said that there is no need for others to interfere. “BEST’S losses run to thousands of crores and we are concerned about this issue. There is no need for others to interfere,” he added.