A part of the operation of the Sitp zonal buses, which transit in Bogotá, was suspended last Monday, February 21. In the early hours of the morning, dozens of drivers met in the Las Cruces yard to protest against the operator Consorcio Express.
(Read: Bogotá: Mayor’s Office postponed the first Car-Free Day of the year).
The workers complain about the wages, hours and other labor issues, as reported by ‘El Tiempo’. The patio opened its doors normally but the buses did not leave, because the drivers did not allow the vehicles to start operating until they reached a consultation table to establish agreements.
This situation was replicated in the Brasil I and II patios in Bosa, on July 20 and El Dorado in Fontibón. In all these there were plantings of employees of various dealers. According to TransMilenio, they were about 120 buses, of the 10,184 that the system has, who did not operate due to the demonstrations,
The drivers, through broadcasts on social networks, denounced that they have very long working hoursdifficulty in requesting vacations or rest, low wages and even cases of alleged labor persecution.
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The situation is not new. In December 2021, two drivers resigned from the company and stated on social networks that they had no job guarantees. For this moment, Express Consortium He explained that the working hours were adjusted to the norm (and that overtime was paid), that the programming and adjustment of routes were communicated in a timely manner and that communication channels were maintained with the four union organizations that protected the workers.
Now, recent news shows that discontent is widespread, including unionized drivers as well as non-union drivers.
“The arrangement we want to make with Consorcio Express is that they raise our salary. The minimum has already reached us… my salary, without bonuses, is 1,046,000 pesos. The bonus one has to earn it; but they are always trying to take it away from us, because it was stationary, because it was a bad approach, because it didn’t pick up…”, assured Yesid Gutiérrez, one of the drivers who protested to EL TIEMPO.
It would be a bonus that is a salary incentive offered by the company to drivers who meet certain standards in their service.
(Read: How is the TransMilenio ticket for Sisbén beneficiaries).
TransMilenio, for its part, assured that it has “no employment relationship with the personnel employed by the concessionaires, which includes the operators (drivers) of the System”, and that the competence to resolve this situation belongs to the concessionaires and the Ministry of Job.
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