BEST workers began an indefinite hunger strike in Mumbai on Tuesday, August 18, demanding the transport undertaking and civic authorities settle wage agreements and dues that have been pending for years. The protest started at 11:30 am outside the union office at Kennedy Bridge, Opera House, after a union meeting the previous evening decided the agitation would continue “until the demands are addressed,” according to Free Press Journal.

Years of unresolved wage talks

The BEST Workers Union, led by general secretary Shashank Rao, says wage agreements covering 2016-21 and 2021-26 remain unsettled. Its demands include implementation of Seventh Pay Commission recommendations, pay scales matching BMC employees, and equal compensation for wet-lease workers hired through private contractors doing the same jobs as BEST’s own staff. The union has also asked for pay corrections for employees who started as casual labourers in the Electrical Supply Department before being made permanent, and for retired staff to finally receive gratuity and settlement dues owed to them. TV9 Marathi reports the union had separately pressed the state government for urgent budgetary allocation to BEST, warning that without it the undertaking’s finances would keep deteriorating.

A recurring demand is the merger of BEST’s own budget with the BMC’s general budget, a structural change the union argues would give the loss-making transport arm access to municipal funds instead of forcing it to run buses and electricity supply on its own shrinking revenue. The union also wants financial support specifically earmarked to help BEST retain and expand its self-owned bus fleet, which has shrunk over the years as the undertaking leaned on private contractors to plug the gap.

What it means for commuters

BEST is not just a bus operator; it also supplies electricity to parts of Mumbai, and its buses remain one of the cheapest and most heavily used forms of public transport in the city. A prolonged standoff between the union and management raises the risk of service disruption at a time commuters already contend with monsoon congestion. Riders who depend on BEST for daily commutes, along with retired employees still waiting on dues some of them say are years overdue, have the most immediate stake in how quickly this is resolved.

The dispute also reflects a broader problem municipal transport bodies across Maharashtra face: aging fleets, rising operating losses and a workforce increasingly split between permanent staff and lower-paid contract or wet-lease workers doing comparable work for less pay.

Outlook

Rao has said the strike will hold until authorities respond to the union’s demands, and no settlement had been announced as of Tuesday evening. Whether the BMC and state government move on the budget-merger request, considered the union’s core structural ask, will likely determine how long the agitation continues and whether it escalates into a full transport strike.

Sources: Free Press Journal, TV9 Marathi

This report was compiled and written with AI assistance from publicly reported sources, and reviewed for accuracy.