radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Despite a protest by their Port-of-Spain counterparts, Public Service Transport Corporation drivers operated on bus routes as normal in South Trinidad yesterday, except for the Princes Town to San Fernando route which was disrupted because of a defective bus.
A source from PTSC said the Princes Town route was affected between 12 midday to 3 pm but was restored towards the latter part of the afternoon.
While bus workers in Port-of-Spain terminus staged a lunchtime protest, the drivers from the south said while they were disgruntled, they did not want the travelling public to suffer.
Most of the commuters who use the bus service are the elderly.
A senior bus driver said, “Right now we have a lot of problems with defective buses and if any routes go down, it’s because the buses need upgrades,” he said.
He noted that some drivers had lost faith in the company officials, as their leave forms were not being signed and there have been multiple breaches of the collective agreement.
Last month, Chief Personnel Officer Dr Daryl Dindial’s counterproposal offered public servants no increase for 2014-2017, one per cent for 2018, no increase for 2019-2020 and one per cent for 2021. This has caused an uproar among public servants, who have embarked on protests since then.
So far, the PTSC workers have not come together to protest although calls have been made by executives of the NUGFW to teach the Government a lesson.
The union has called on all daily-rated and monthly-paid workers, health and corporation workers, workers at the Water and Sewerage Authority, Public Transport Service Corporation, MTS and all others disappointed by the CPO’s offer to engage in protests.