KOLKATA: A strike by contract workers of South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC) severely affected bus services in the southern and western districts of Bengal on Sunday.
The contract workers, mainly drivers and their assistants, have not been taking out buses from various depots in south Bengal since September 22, demanding equal pay for equal work with regular staff and for making their jobs permanent.
The striking workers, owing allegiance to the INTTUC -- the ruling Trinamool Congress' trade union arm, said that they will not join work till their demands are met.
SBSTC chairman Subhas Mondal said that the demands of the workers can be discussed after Kali Puja to reach a solution.
"Bus services should, however, be restored immediately," he said. Mondal claimed that the primary objective of
the state transport undertaking is to give reliable bus service at an affordable cost to
people, including those in remote areas. "It is wrong
to stop the bus services
during the Durga Puja season,"he said.