Mumbai: BEST strike enters 7th day; MNS threatens to hit streets today

Mumbai, Jan 14: The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) staff's strike enters its seventh day on Monday, and around 27 lakh commuters using the undertaking's buses will face Monday morning blues.

One of the demands of the BEST workers who are on strike since last week is merger of the budgets of the BMC and the loss-making BEST. The Sena had promised merger of the budgets during the civic poll campaign in 2017.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), led by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray's estranged cousin Raj Thackeray, threatened to hit the streets on Monday if the state government, BMC administration and the ruling parties failed to find a solution and end the strike.

The BEST staff have gone on an indefinite strike to press for three demands: a) Merging of BEST with the BMC budget; b) Wage agreement for employees, including provisions of 7th Pay Commission; c) Bringing salary slabs of 14,000 junior employees, underpaid since 2011, at par with other employees of the same grade