Passengers suffer as bus strike continues

The indefinite strike enforced by the bus workers in 10 districts of Khulna division continued for the second day yesterday, much to the sufferings of thousands of passengers.
Khulna regional unit of Bangladesh Transport Workers' Federation called the strike in Jessore, Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Narail, Jhenidah, Chuadanga, Meherpur, Kushtia and Magura districts from 6:00 am on Monday, demanding pay hike of drivers, supervisors and helpers.
Leaders of the unit said they went on an indefinite strike on Monday (June 17) as their earlier deadline given to the Bus Owners' Association to meet the demand expired on June 16. Bus services between Dhaka and 10 southeastern districts also remain suspended due to the strike.
Azizul Alam Mintu, president of Bangladesh Paribahan Sangstha Sramik Samity, also a unit of the federation, said three months' ultimatum was given to the leaders of Bus Owners' Association in April 16, but they did not pay heed to the demand.
Leaders of the Khulna regional unit of Bangladesh Transport Workers' Federation and Bangladesh Bus Owners Association sat in a meeting at Gabtoli in the capital on Sunday morning to settle the issue. The meeting yielded no positive results.
“We have enforced the strike as the meeting with transport owners held only a few hours before the expiry of the deadline ended inconclusively,” Mintu said.
Federation leaders said the transport owners are giving Tk 1200 to a driver, Tk 500 to a supervisor and Tk 450 to a helper for a round trip on Dhaka- Chittagong route, while they are paying Tk 900, Tk 370 and Tk 350 to each driver, supervisor and helper for the same trip on different routes in Khulna division.
“We have placed the demand before the transport owners to remove wage anomalies,” they said, adding that the strike will continue until the demand is met.
In Jessore, the district administration yesterday held a meeting with the local unit leaders of the federation and the Bus Owners' Association to resolve the issue. The meeting ended without any positive result.