PARAMARIBO – A group of bus drivers recently made it clear that they do not approved of the plans of the chairman of their union, the Private Bus Drivers’ Organization (PLO) to go on strike soon.
They explained that the timing is not right because the new administration has only been in office for one week. The bus drivers also do not approved of the fact that their union failed to inform them of the looming strike and that they had to hear about his decision from the media. They complained that the chairman failed to hold a union meeting to discuss his plans for a strike.
The bus drivers explained that the previous administration piled up the unpaid bills and problems in the public transportation sector. “The new administration must be given time to settle in and to come up with solutions. “Now is not the time to go on strike because it sends the wrong message,” said one of the bus drivers. The bus drivers explained that they haven't been paid for four months but that the current administration is not to blame for this. “The government has been in office for one week only and there has not been a meeting yet between the PLO and the new minister of Transportation, Communications and Tourism (TCT).” The bus drivers are puzzles by the fact that the union chairman suddenly wants to go on strike because during the past 5 years he was the one who urged them not to go on strike. “In the past the chairman repeatedly asked us to give the government room to make the payments. “Now that there is a new government, he suddenly wants to go on strike.” said one of the bus drivers.
