The motormen of Mumbai as well as all the engine drivers of Indian Railways face extremely harsh working conditions. The suburban railway motormen who have the responsibility of carrying millions of commuters in Mumbai everyday have to work all seven days of the week. They are overstressed. At the same time they are severely punished for any problem, no matter what the cause.
On August 19 2011, the Motormen of Western Railways suburban services in Mumbai went on a flash strike from 4.30 pm to 5.30 pm. They were protesting against the dismissal of one of their colleagues. The strike completely paralyzed the services on the Western Railway. The authorities were forced to reinstate the dismissed worker in the face of this united opposition of the motormen.
Why was this motorman dismissed? A year ago, the train he was driving train rammed into the dead end at its last stop at Andheri station. A railway enquiry into the incident found that a) The spring buffer in the dead end should have been replaced with hydraulic ones, which the railways did not do, b) The distance between the terminating point of the train and the dead end buffer was less at this station, as compared to mandatory requirements, and c) The train itself had operational problems. In spite of this the motorman involved was dismissed from service and the letter of termination was given on 18th August morning.
The motormen of Mumbai as well as all the engine drivers of Indian Railways face extremely harsh working conditions. The suburban railway motormen who have the responsibility of carrying millions of commuters in Mumbai everyday have to work all seven days of the week. They are overstressed. At the same time they are severely punished for any problem, no matter what the cause.
Earlier, the motormen of Central Railway (Mumbai’s train services are run by both Central and Western Railways) were planning to go on strike on the August 16, 2011. They were planning to protest against the harsh working conditions they faced, as well as for their other long standing demands. The authorities called them for talks on August 15, 2011 and promised to withdraw the unjust actions initiated against the motormen.
MEL fully supports the just demands of the motormen of Mumbai and calls on the railway authorities to take steps to redress their grievances.