BEST strike to continue today as talks between Union leaders, officials fail; no end to Mumbai commuters' woes

The indefinite strike by employees of the Mumbai's transport undertaking Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) will continue on Friday after talks between union leaders and officials dint reach a break through.

STRIKE by Mumbai's BEST Employees

Mumbai: The indefinite strike by employees of the Mumbai's transport undertaking Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) will continue on Friday after talks between union leaders and officials dint reach a break through. In the presence of Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta and the BEST commissioner Surendra Kumar Bagde, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray met the BEST union leaders. Shiv Sena party controls the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). For nearly seven hours, the negotiations went on but failed to break the deadlock. Not a single BEST bus plied on Mumbai roads on Thursday. "The officials have refused to relent on our demands to merge the budget of BEST with that of the BMC. Therefore, the strike will continue. They did not agree to even give us a written assurance about our other demands," BEST Workers Union president Shashank Rao told reporters after the meeting. He added that while Thackeray tried to find a middle ground, he did not succeed. The Union has written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and demanded a written assurance on its demands, Rao said.