After over 40 days of strike, another 150 employees of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) have been suspended. The services of two daily-wage workers have been terminated too for participation in the strike that has lasted beyond a month.
Till date, about 10,180 employees have been suspended whereas about 2,029 have been terminated. The corporation also transferred 254 employees by way of disciplinary action, taking the tally of transferred employees to 2,250.
Although a pay hike was announced by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, in the last week of November, the employees continue to strike demanding that MSRTC be merged with the state government.
The strike began on October 28 and gathered steam by the second week of November, disturbing state-run bus service.
The employees feel that merging MSRTC with the state government will get them better salaries and other benefits.
Senior officials of MSRTC had even threatened the striking employees with legal action if they did not end the strike soon and resume duty. Clearly, their threats have not had any effect.
The striking employees in Pune maintained that revision of salary was not their demand, but merger with the state government and treatment as government employees was what they sought.
The Pune division of MSRTC claims that as on December 9, 2021 bus operations are back to normal, a month after MSRTC workers, including drivers and conductors went on strike.
