Unite launches campaign for shorter hours

Unite has launched a campaign to shave at least an hour off the driving time of the UK’s bus drivers on grounds of safety, and with no loss of pay.
100,000 Unite members are being mobilised around a Busworkers’ Charter that puts similar demands for improvements to working conditions for all workers in the sector, including ancillary staff, such as maintenance and clerical staff, and tram workers.
Unite’s campaign is mainly aimed at bringing bus drivers into line with the rest of the European Union (EU). Ironically, UK coach and road haulage drivers currently enjoy the protection of the EU regulations.
A national ballot across the industry to determine how Unite’s members want to act has not been ruled out. The British Driving Hours Regulations currently provide for bus drivers to work for up to five and a half hours without any breaks, and up to 16 hours in a whole day. To conform to the spirit of EU regulations, Unite wants:

• A maximum single piece of driving duty not to exceed four and a half hours
• A maximum length of driving time of no more than eight hours in one day 
• A maximum of ten hours total working time in any one day

http://www.unitetheunion.com

South African strike part suspended

A planned nationwide strike by bus drivers has been partially averted as the Bus Employers’ Association (SABEA) increased its wage offer to 10 percent. The SATAWU union suspended its strike action for today. Spokesperson Azaria Mataboge says the union will meet the employer this afternoon, after which they can advise their members whether or not the suspended strike will be officially called off.
In contrast, another union – the Transport and Allied Workers’ Union of SA (Tawusa) - says its members will continue with the strike as planned. The third union involved is the Transport and Omnibus Workers Union.
SABEA initially offered a 6.5 percent wage increase while unions demanded 15 percent. Collectively, the unions claim to represent 14,000 bus company workers.
http://www.jacarandafm.com

Guatemalan drivers blockade approaches to capital

A nationwide bus drivers strike shut down transit throughout the country and blocked highways into Guatemala City on Monday last week. Security forces removed buses that were blocking the roads, but more than 37,000 intercity drivers vowed to continue the strike until the government meets their demands for more security and a share in subsidies granted to drivers in Guatemala City. 

Driving a bus is notoriously dangerous in Guatemala, where criminal gangs extort protection money from drivers and enforce their demands violently. In 2009, 146 drivers and 60 assistants were murdered by gangs, and 20 have been killed this year.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news

Norwich drivers vote for deal

A planned strike in Norwich has been called off after a pay offer was accepted by drivers, with 218 voting for it and 117 against. The offer is for a 2.73 percent raise and a one-off payment of £125.
Pay for drivers on rest days will also increase to £8 but all other terms and conditions remain the same.
Unite, which represents the First drivers, urged staff to take the deal.
http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk

Wildcat strike breaks out in Rajshahi

Bangladesh

Rajshahi bus owners and workers began an indefinite wildcat strike on Sunday, demanding punishment for a group of men who beat up three transport workers in the morning. They were attacked in the Rajshahi central bus terminal area around 10am.

Strike threat wins concessions in Tonga

The Tonga Bus Association has cancelled a planned strike tomorrow after the government agreed to cut huge hikes in fees brought in at the beginning of the year.
All buses across the archipelago in the South Pacific were to stop work tomorrow – in protest at the increases in the annual licence fee from just over 46 US dollars to 216 dollars.
The annual registration fee also increased dramatically, from 28 US dollars to 162 dollars.
The acting permanent Secretary for the Bus Association, Chris Fatai, says an agreement has now been reached between the association and the Government to reduce the fees.
“The two parties have agreed to lower the figure because the figure they gave us was too high.”
Chris Fatai says a final decision about the new bus fees may be announced on Thursday.
http://www.rnzi.com

Finnish strikers return to work

Finnish transport workers agreed to end a strike that left commuters stranded and made it difficult for companies to transport goods from groceries to gas.
The walkout by 10,000 drivers ended after one day, when workers accepted a mediation proposal, the Transport Workers’ Union said.
The strike stopped bus services, heavy truck transport, garbage collection and fuel deliveries.
The drivers, whose collective agreement expired on Jan. 31, won pay increases of about 0.64 percent per year, payable in installments over two years, according to the  Confederation of Finnish Industries.
http://www.businessweek.com/news

Bogota strike ends with minor concessions

Bogota, Columbia
City authorities and Apetrans (an organization of small bus owner-drivers) have reached a deal to end a four-day strike.
The strike, in which 16,400 buses were taken off Bogota’s streets, wreaked havoc on a city that has serious mobility problems even when the public transport system is operating normally. Schools had been closed both to ensure students’ safety and also to use the school bus fleet for mass transportation.
Under the deal, the bus drivers are to receive a fixed monthly income equivalent to 1.5 percent of the value of their vehicles once they are incorporated into the new system.
Mayor Samuel Moreno had offered that figure earlier in the week and refused to raise it further amid the chaos of the strike.
At the start of the strike the drivers had demanded a 5 percent fixed monthly income – based on the value of their buses – for incorporating their vehicles into the new integrated public transport system (SITP). They lowered that demand to 3 percent and then 2 percent before agreeing to Moreno’s 1.5 percent, tax-free offer.
The drivers did succeed, however, in convincing Bogota authorities to increase by 5 percent the price the city will pay to incorporate newer vehicles into the SITP. That concession means a higher fixed monthly income, since those earnings are based on the value of the buses.
http://www.laht.com