BEST omits ‘wet lease’ topic from discussion

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) bus management has omitted the “wet lease” topic from the discussion before the mediator committee.

Wet lease means allowing new contract workers to work on buses when they are newly purchased electric buses. Wet lease was one of the key issues raised during the BEST strike. However, the BEST unions also did not oppose the said omission.

Before the strike, the workers unions had approached the industrial court and brought stay on the wet lease scheme. The unions had argued that it was the plan of the administration to privatise the BEST. However, now they have also agreed to the BEST proposal.

A division bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice N.M. Jamdar was hearing a PIL filed against the BEST strike. On January 16, workers agreed to call off their strike in the Bombay high court.

The unions agreed to the BEST management’s offer of a 10-point increment in salary for staff, including drivers and conductors, and the court’s suggestion of appointing a mediator to work out a solution.

At the time, the court appointed retired Justice F.I. Rebello as mediator between the BEST union and management.

The mediator will look into other issues like the merger of the BEST and BMC budget. He will have to resolve the issue within three months.

On Monday, during the hearing, the BEST informed the HC about the said omission and the court accepted the request of the BEST administration.

Around 32,000 BEST workers had been on strike since January 8 pushing various demands, including pay hike, revision of pay scale of junior-level employees and merger of the budget of BEST’s with the budget of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).