BJP legislators call off strike; some MSRTC workers may continue strike

A day after the state government announced salary hike for the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) employees, the BJP legislators Gopichand Padalkar and Sadabhau Khot, who were leading the state transport (ST) employees’ strike, said that they are calling off the strike

A day after the state government announced salary hike for the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) employees, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators Gopichand Padalkar and Sadabhau Khot, who were leading the state transport (ST) employees’ strike, said that they are calling off the strike. However, a section of the ST workers, who are firm on their demand on the corporation’s merger with the state government, are expected to continue their stir at Azad Maidan.

BJP legislators Gopichand Padalkar and Sadabhau Khot address MSRTC employees who are on strike at Azad Maidan. (HT PHOTO)

On Wednesday, the state government announced a salary hike ranging between ₹7,200 and ₹3,600 for the employees of the state transport body, who are on strike for the past fortnight. Padalkar and Khot, who led the ST workers, had deferred their decision on Wednesday and sought more time to discuss with the ST workers, who camped at Azad Maidan.

The legislators held consultations with workers at Azad Maidan till late night. However, there was no consensus among the workers. While some were happy with the salary hike, others were firm to continue the stir till the corporation is included in the state government.

“We met the workers at Azad Maidan and told them that we have to take a stand after the final meeting with the government. We are calling off the strike. They can remain on their stand as we cannot force them [to end the strike]. We will not oppose whoever wants to continue the strike,” Padalkar said on Thursday.

Khot, meanwhile, said that the workers must accept the hike in salary as their victory and prepare for the next “battle”. “We did not announce our decision immediately. We spent a night discussing with the workers at Azad Maidan. We are still with the workers, but I believe that we must accept the hike, and prepare for the next battle,” he said.

Transport minister Anil Parab appealed to the workers who are still on strike to return to work. He said that their demand for a merger was primarily to ensure timely payment of salaries and increase in pay, which the government has already done. “I think, they should not stick to term ‘merger’ now. We have given them a hike and assured timely salaries every month. Regarding the merger, they can speak to the court-appointed committee,” Parab said in Thursday. He added that some employees want to resume work. “We will monitor how many employees return to their respective duties by tomorrow afternoon. After that the Corporation will decide its future course of action,” he added.

Padalkar said that the workers have the right to not accept the government’s offer and that they cannot force the workers, as it was a spontaneous strike by the workers. “If the government has come two steps forward, then now the workers have to decide whether to accept it or not; it is their right. We cannot force the workers. We had discussions with the employees, some of them are happy with the [salary] hike, while some of them want the merger,” he said.