Hundreds of employees of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) have been camping at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai for the past one week to press for the merger of the corporation with the state government.
While there is no union or leader to take forward the protest, the workers have come here from across the state on their own. They have been on strike since October 27, demanding to be treated as government employees and to be able to receive salaries and benefits like government employees.
“The government is saying in the media that merger (of MSRTC in the state government) is not possible. Then why did he promise it in the election manifesto? Referring to the NCP manifesto, a worker asked.
“Do they want to strike and break our unity using the divide and rule formula? They have suspended thousands of employees instead of solving our problems and understand how we are suffering due to low wages,” said several workers.
Even as the biggest union is not directly participating in the strike and workers are paying for their food and water, civil society groups like Commons Mumbaikar have come forward to help and provide biscuits, water bottles, Fruits and even lunch and dinner are organized. ,
On Tuesday, a religious NGO named Swami Samarth Math of Ghatkopar provided lunch.
Nitin Shinde, an employee of Panvel said, “We spent money out of our pocket to come here. People are also sympathizing and supporting our demands.”
According to the employees, although the strike continues at the depot, they gathered at Azad Maidan in the hope that proximity to the seat of power might help their cause.
“We realized that even after two weeks of strike, the government was not trying to resolve the issue but was trying to break the strike. So we came here spontaneously, thinking that at least they would listen to our issues,” said Giri Gosavi.
The employees said that they do not have any union, but have two leaders – BJP MLC Gopichand Padalkar and Rahat Kranti chief Sadbhau Khot- are supporting him.
Anant Velunde, who works at the depot, said, “We have only one demand – that the government understand the issues of low wages and increments and tell us in writing that they are accepting our demands for merger.”
“I joined ST in 2012 and used to get a salary of Rs 15,000. Now after nine years I am getting the same salary. Thankfully I do not have debt, but it is still insufficient to run the house,” said Ratnakar Kolambe, a conductor working with the Thane depot.
There are 28 labor trade unions in the corporation, of which three major unions are affiliated to the three ruling parties and are not involved in the strike.
The employees said that the strike was not organized by any political party or union. However, BJP leaders have been accused of fanning and handling the protests for political gains.
Shivaji Ghanghale, a protesting employee, said, “This is not a protest against the BJP, but if they are supporting our cause then there is no problem. They are not even using their flag here. One thing is clear that the strike will end only when the government accepts our demand to merge the corporation with the state government.
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