MORE than 24,000 drivers and conductors, working in the transport division of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport undertaking (BEST), recently went on a two day heroic strike to protest against the unilateral action of the management to enhance working time from 8 to 12 hours, adversely restructuring their service conditions. The strike was total in the entire BEST operation in all the 26 depots across the Mumbai city, totally paralysing the service on April 1 and 2, 2014. The new computerised duty schedule was prepared by a Canadian firm, Trapeze, at the behest of BEST administration purportedly to reduce the expenditure, even if it means inconveniencing the thousands of workmen. It is to be noted that the BEST Kamgar Sangathana, a constituent of the All India Road Transport Workers Federation (AIRTWF), created the requisite awareness among the workers about the new computerised duty chart, which was what led to the strike beginning April 1, 2014. On that morning, only 17 conductors and 20 drivers turned up for work and only eight buses out of the fleet of around 4,300 came out on roads. On realising the tremendous response of the workmen to the call of mass leave to protest against the draconian duty schedule, the recognised BEST Workers Union hijacked the issue and claimed credit for the strike even though it had not shown any sign of protest against the new rota system when it was first implemented in two depots on an experimental basis. In fact, on February 26, the recognised union even forwarded a letter to the management, declaring acceptance of the parameters for implementation of the computerised duty schedule prepared by the said Canadian firm. From mid-February, in contrast, the BEST Kamgar Sangathana started making workers aware of the truth behind the proposed schedule. However, it was only in the month of March that the harsh truth came to light when the fully computerised schedule for all depots was put up for implementation. The general secretary of the recognised BEST Workers Union also stated on April 1 that his union had never asked the workmen to proceed on strike. Among all the trade union centres, only the CITU fully endorsed the strike. CITU general secretary Tapan Sen issued a press release stating that the “CITU extends all support to the heroic strike by Mumbai bus workers and calls upon other trade unions and the unions affiliated to the CITU in particular to act in solidarity with the striking workers.” The press release was published by many of the leading English dailies. While talking to the press, general secretary of the BEST Kamgar Sangathana, Jagnarayan Gupta, said, “The workers in the other unions realised how problematic their work would become and exerted pressure on their leaders who finally gave in, and the result is there for you to see”. In spite of the leading role the BEST Kamgar Sangathana played in organising the strike, only the representatives of recognised BEST Workers Union and BEST Kamgar Sena were engaged in holding talks with the authorities for political reasons. During the parleys between the authorities and the abovementioned unions, it was decided that the new duty schedule would be implemented from June 1, 2014, after making the necessary changes and on acceptance of the duty schedule by the workmen. It is evident that the issue is far from settled and may escalate into a major struggle of the workmen in the coming June.