BEST wet lease drivers call off strike

The wet lease drivers of BEST called off their strike on Thursday afternoon. Further rounds of meetings with the unions are expected on Friday to discuss pertinent issues. The flash strike was called by the wet lease drivers on Tuesday after an altercation with technical staff inside Deonar depot

MUMBAI: The wet lease drivers of BEST called off their strike on Thursday afternoon. Further rounds of meetings with the unions are expected on Friday to discuss pertinent issues.

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The flash strike was called by the wet lease drivers on Tuesday after an altercation with technical staff inside Deonar depot. Since then, out of the 80 plus buses, around 50 percent were off the roads.

“A message by the wet lease contractor SMT-ATPL said that the strike at Deonar depot was called off from 14.15 hours. A contingency plan will be prepared as few drivers quit from service,” said a BEST spokesperson.

There are more than 300 drivers in the Deonar depot which caters to routes plying in the eastern suburbs and central Mumbai.

“Initially the management didn’t want to meet the unions. Now, a meeting has been scheduled for Friday where issues such as timely payment of salaries, weekly offs, pending holidays, extra time, bonuses and salary hike will be discussed,” said a member of a union representing wet lease drivers.