Faced with the financial difficulties encountered by bus companies due to the entry into operation of the metro-express, the Union of Bus Industry Workers (UBIW) proposes that the government nationalize public transport.
In a meeting with the press yesterday, UBIW leaders Saleem Bacsou and Alain Kisten stressed that nationalization has proven its worth with the National Transport Corporation (CNT) and that the same principle could be applied to transport companies facing financial difficulties. They state that 65% of the passengers, who travel in the buses, receive a transport allowance from the companies they work for and only 35% of the passengers take the bus from time to time. In addition to this, transportation is free for students, elderly, and otherwise able people. It is therefore easy to take over these bus companies through a merger.
These trade union leaders claim that the nationalization of public transport has proved its worth in Luxembourg, where bus tickets are now free for everyone. These union leaders also took the opportunity to demand the immediate opening of negotiations with the bus companies for the establishment of a new collective agreement on the revision of the salary scale and conditions of service that prevail in this sector. The last collective agreement dates to 2016, they point out. At the same time, they demand that the allowance of Rs 1,000, which is currently granted to public transport employees, be integrated into the basic salary of public transport employees. Another demand of the UBIW is that the transport police team should be strengthened as two cases of fare theft and assault on bus conductors have been reported recently in Rose-Hill Transport and in the north of the island.
UBIW leaders say they met with Transport Minister Alan Ganoo two weeks ago to discuss all these issues. They hope that the latter will do his utmost to solve their problems which are only getting worse with the presence of vans and brown cabs operating on the routes served by these bus companies.
