Yerevan faces public transport collapse: City Hall reveals reason for drivers' strike

YEREVAN, December 3, /ARKA/. This morning, a large number of drivers of ’Yerevan Bus’ CJSC refused to go to work  without prior notice, leaving tens of thousands of citizens, including those rushing to work, stranded, the mayor's press secretary, Hayk Kostanyan, announced on his Facebook page.

"As you know, over the past month, we have consistently informed the public that with the introduction of the  unified ticket system, ‘’shadow’’ turnover' has been significantly reduced, and this process will continue," Kostanyan wrote.

According to him, the work-related issues raised by the drivers were regularly addressed. They were informed that working conditions would improve as ‘’shadow turnover' decreased (drivers were allowed to accept coins as payment and were suspected of stealing part of the money) . However, as mentioned earlier, a large number of drivers once again began making unreasonable demands, accompanied by instances of blackmail.

"We would like to remind you once again that the driver's net salary for 15 days per month is 401,500 drams (MAN buses), 309,500 drams (Zhong Tong buses), and 219,500 drams (Gazel City)," Kostanyan wrote.

He recalled that the labor legislation of  stipulates that employees of the city's public transport organization must notify at least 14 days in advance before starting a strike. Furthermore, they are required to ensure that minimal conditions are maintained during the strike to meet the essential needs of society.

"The actions mentioned above will be assessed in accordance with labor legislation. The mayor's office will contact the relevant authorities to provide an appropriate criminal-legal assessment of these actions," Kostanyan warned. -0-