Employer is winner in strike by drivers

THE bus driver’s strike has caused chaos among commuters. Many have had to dig deep into their pockets to get to their places of work, schools etc, by taking alternate transport such as taxis and trains.

Many will have their pay docked for arriving late at work and some will even lose their jobs for absenteeism.

The question is, who are the winners and who are the losers in this debacle?

Hypothetically speaking, if a driver earned R10 000 a month and received an increase of 10% as demanded by the unions, he would get an extra R1 000 giving him a salary of R11 000 a month.

On the other hand if the settlement reached was a 9% increase as offered by the employer, his salary would increase by R900 making it R10 900.

This means that for a difference of about just a measly R100 the strike has been going on for over a month.

Assuming that the policy of “no work no pay” applies, the driver will stand to lose over a month’s salary. In the meantime, the bus companies’ fleet is at a standstill, which means there are no overheads such as drivers’ salaries, fuel, maintenance etc.

Based on these assumptions it is obvious that the only winner here is the employer while thousands of commuters’ lives have been disrupted by the travel inconvenience which has drastically affected their budgets.

It just does not make sense!