Report by Kamgar Ekta Committee (KEC) correspondent
Recently, on 2nd December, loco-pilots all over the country had organized a 48-hour hunger strike for their long pending demands and grievances. One of their demands was to restrict their duty hours within 8 to 10 hours. The motormen and women who operate Mumbai’s suburban local trains are also suffering due to unduly long duty hours.
Motormen operating local trains on the Western Railway network have expressed resentment over the new duty hours that reportedly make many of them work in double shifts. The main reason for this state of affairs is the huge number of vacancies of motormen. Local trains are the lifeline of Mumbai. Both Western and Central Railway local trains are used by tens of lakhs of working people everyday for going to their workplace. If local trains stop functioning, the entire business in the finance capital of India, Mumbai, will come to a standstill. Hence, the government does not want any disruptions in the operations of local trains; instead of filling the large number of vacancies, the government forces the available motormen to work double shifts. Most motormen do not get adequate rest between two consecutive duties. They are probably one of the few category of workmen who do not have a designated weekly off. All this results in extremely over-worked, under-rested, and heavily stressed motormen.
Motormen of Western Railway local network have decided to unite against such unjust working conditions. They are demanding immediate filling up of all vacancies. They are also demanding that the practice of allocating double shifts should be immediately stopped. They are also demanding that the lobbies and restrooms where they are supposed to take rest should be urgently refurbished as many of them are in deplorable conditions, because of which they do not get proper rest. The railway canteen at Churchgate station is reportedly not operational since June, so motormen are forced spend a huge amount of money to eat outside. They are demanding that the canteen must be urgently restarted.
Such a state of affairs adds to the extreme stress of motormen and jeopardises the safety of lakhs of local train commuters. This is why the working people of Mumbai need to support the demands of Mumbai’s suburban motormen.