SC stops fixed salaries for bus drivers

spokesperson, Atty. Gleo Guerra.

Jaime Jacob, LTFRB chairman, said the court will abide by the SC order but added that the agency has yet to recieve a copy of the order.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday stopped the implementation of fixed salaries for public utility bus drivers.

In a resolution, the SC en banc issued a status quo ante order, halting the imposition of the fixed salary scheme for PUB drivers as proposed by the Department of Labor and Employment and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

The order also directs all those bus companies which have already complied for the last 10 days with the new salary scheme to revert to the previous commission-basis income of their respective drivers.

The DOLE and LTFRB are also ordered to submit their comment or reply within 10 days, according to SC

The fixed salary scheme for bus drivers has been implemented to prevent accidents on the road caused by buses jostling for more passengers. Under the per commission scheme, bus drivers and conductors receive their compensation based on the amount of bus revenues they collect during their shift.

Early on, Cebu Provincial Bus Operators Association spokesperson Julito Flores had said that although they are opposed on this kind of scheme and in fact formally registered their opposition with LTFRB, they will be abiding with the LTFRB memorandum circular with great pain in their hearts.

Flores had hoped for the Supreme Court to rule in their favor.

“We believe that giving fixed wage among bus drivers is not a solution to reduce traffic accidents,” Flores said.

The petitioners - Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines, Southern Luzon Bus Operators Association, Inc., InterCity Bus Operators Association, Inc., and City San Jose del Monte Bus Operators Association – asked the Supreme Court to nullify Department Order No. 118- 12, the National Wages and Productivity Commission Guidelines No. 1 Series of 2012, and Memorandum Circular No. 2012-001 of the LTFRB.

Department Order 11812, otherwise known as the Rules and Regulations Governing the Employment and Working Conditions of Drivers and Conductors in the Public Utility Bus Transport Industry provides for fixed wages and performance- based compensation schemes, social welfare benefits, security of tenure, and other labor rights for bus drivers, conductors and other bus transport workers.

The said department order took effect last July 1, 2012.

Valenzuela City Mayor Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who champions labor and consumer rights, strongly support the DOLE-initiated wage reforms among transport sector, contending this is for public good and interest.

Gatchalian in a statement said that this wage scheme would mean an improved working condition as well as enhance road safety especially among the riding public.

DOLE secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz in a press statement had welcomed the petition saying this was their latest challenge in their quest for reforms in the bus transport sector.

Baldoz said that the petition will provide DOLE the opportunity to further raise public awareness and understanding of the true employment situation of bus drivers and conductors to generate public support to the reforms that the DOLE is pursuing.—