Commuters are the victims
THE bus drivers’ 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 being late for work and some will even lose their jobs for absenteeism.
The question is, who are the winners and who are the losers of 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 a measly R100 the strike has been going on for more than a month.
Assuming the policy of “no work, no pay” applies, the driver stood to lose more than a month’s salary of about R11 000.
In the meantime the bus companies’ fleets are at a standstill which means there are no overheads such as driver’s salaries, fuel, maintenance, etc.
Based on these assumptions it is obvious 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.