Despite Uddhav Thackeray’s Appeal, MSRTC Employees’ Strike Continues

On Thursday, November 11, employees of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) continued their strike for the 15th day on the demand for the merger of the corporation with the state government, reported the PTI. This move comes in spite of the appeal made by state Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for them to cooperate with the government whilst it's working to solve the problems.

On Wednesday, November 10, Thackeray urged all the employees of the corporation to not continue their protest since it is invariably holding the downtrodden at ransom.

For the second straight day, all 250 bus depots of the MSRTC were non-operational stated an official. With this, passengers continued to face issues.

Even with more than 900 employees being suspended, many workers from the authority continued to agitate till their demands are agreed to. Their reason for the suspension is attributed to them provoking and partaking in the strike.

Based on the report, MSRTC officials and sources from the union are stating that there isn’t any meeting scheduled with the governmental authorities on Thursday for solving the problem. Whilst the strike began on October 28, it gained momentum post the completion of the Diwali festivities last week.

On Wednesday state transport minister and chairman of the MSRTC, Anil Parab met with a delegation of the Maharashtra ST Employees Join Action Committee. He appealed to them to call off their strike, even with the corporation filling a contempt petition in the Bombay High Court. The court has sought replies from the union by Friday and has put the matter for hearing to November 15.

Additionally, on Wednesday afternoon, many MSRTC employees from across Maharashtra came to Mumbai and conducted a rally at Azad Maidan, pressing for their demand.

The state believes that if the MSRTC’s union demands are met, other state-run corporations will also demand a merger with the state government.

The state government has constituted a committee to study the demands made by the corporation.  

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