NEW DELHI: Delhi Cluster Bus Karamchari Union on Wednesday announced a massive strike scheduled on October 4. The workers informed that the four cluster bus depots, namely Sunheri Pulla, BBM, Kanjhawala and Okhla depot, are on the brink of completing their tenure in October, but no tender had been issued to extend the tenure of these depots.
According to an official, the four depots will complete 10 years and the tenure will also end between October 1-10. "Currently, there is no clarity on whether it will be shut or not. Further, it is expected to be floated soon in a week. But, nothing is still on paper," said an official.
The cluster union workers said, "If the tenure will not be extended, the four cluster depots will be closed one by one in a period of ten days. So, we will not wait for all of our workers to go unemployed. If they transport department or DIMTS will not extend the tenure, around 6,000-8,000 workers comprise conductors, drivers, marshals, supervisors, electricians, managers and others will lose their jobs." All the cluster bus staff work as daily wagers, and get paid as per hour.
A member of the cluster bus union said, "Many of us drivers and conductors faced challenged and lost earnings due to lockdown. Further, we get paid as per the kilometres that we cover in a day. So, shutting down the depots will completely hit the lives of drivers, conductors and other workers whose family and
livelihood is depended upon this work."
Another member said, "DIMITS has not given any assurance in written yet. So, if they don’t float any tender for extension of tenure, all of the workers will go on a strike and none of our buses will run that day."