Mira-Bhayandar transport workers strike over stalled pay hike talks

Employees of the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation's transport service went on strike on Monday, September 28, demanding a pay hike and other benefits. A meeting between civic officials and union representatives last week failed to yield a concrete decision on the demands, making clear that the unions would go ahead with the stir. Commuters were left waiting to see whether bus services in the city would run normally or be disrupted.

The civic transport service operates buses on routes within the city as well as to Thane and Mumbai. About 300 contract employees, mainly drivers and conductors, work in the service. They currently earn around Rs 23,000 a month, and according to the unions, there has been no increase in their pay in the last 11 years.

Citing rising inflation and workload, the unions have demanded an annual pay hike of 10 percent. They have also sought an increase in travel allowance and a decision on other pending demands. The unions said they had been pursuing these demands with the administration for years, but decided to strike after no action was taken.

After the strike was announced, the administration held another meeting with union representatives. Officials said employees are given various allowances in addition to basic pay, and that a special allowance is paid every six months at rates set by the state government. The administration also said weekly-off pay is included in the basic pay itself. It explained that since the state government has not revised the basic pay, the corporation has not independently increased it either. Citing this, the administration appealed to the unions to withdraw the planned strike.

Anticipating that the strike could disrupt bus services and inconvenience commuters, the administration wrote to the police seeking cooperation in handling the situation. Notices were reportedly sent to employees through the contractor regarding the strike, along with a warning of strict action under the rules if the strike went ahead.

With no satisfactory resolution reached despite the meeting, the unions said they remained firm on the strike. The state of traffic in the city was expected to depend on how many employees turned up for work and how much of the transport service continued to run. Thousands of passengers who depend on the bus service daily could be forced to look for alternative transport if the strike went ahead. Commuters have faced similar disruption during past strikes by transport employees, raising the prospect that this standoff between the administration and the unions would once again affect passengers directly.