BRT drivers protest salary delay, draconian policy

•Go back to work, LAMATA directs aggrieved drivers

Over 800 drivers of Primero Transport Service, operators of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) scheme on the Ikorodu corridor abandoned work yesterday. They staged a over alleged delay in the payment of their salary and harsh working conditions.

They also protested what they called “the draconian policy” in cutting their salaries by 36 per cent and 36 per cent increase in their bonus with conditionality.

The drivers, who assembled at their Majidun, Ikorodu Depot as early as 7am,   carried placards with various messages to register displeasure with their employer.

The action which caught commuters unaware, left them with no option than to either trek or patronise the smaller buses. Operators of the smaller buses took advantage of the situation to fleece commuters.

Attempts by the company’s Managing Director Mr Fola Tinubu to get the drivers back to work proved abortive as the protesters stuck to their guns.

The regulator, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) yesterday appealed for calm, urging the aggrieved drivers to go to suspend the protest, saying has raised a tripartite committee to address their grievances.

The company which has over 2, 000 workers, began operation in November 2015. It is the biggest route operator having 484 buses in its fleet.

Besides the delayed salary payment, the drivers also alleged poor welfare package and unfavourable conditions of service.

The drivers in their hundreds were seen near the gates of the company when The Nationvisited the Depot yesterday. Many of the buses were used to barricade the corridor to prevent movement.

A driver, Mr Julius Adejire, said: “For some days, we have been waiting for our salary for July but up to this moment, we have not received payment alert.

The drivers alleged they were infuriated that while they haven’t been paid, some support staff, including engineers, have started receiving alerts.

Apart from salary delays, the drivers also wanted improved welfare package and a better working condition.

Adejire alleged: “We are supposed to work for 40 hours a week but they subjected us to 48 hours and we had only one day off instead of two days.

“In our appointment letter, they said we will receive N60,000 as basic salary and N20,000 as performance bonus.

“Suddenly, after five months, they changed it to N40,000 basic and N40,000 bonus with a lot of conditions attached to the bonus.

“For instance, a driver will be denied the bonus pay if he or she is late to work for at least three times a month.

“With the conditions attached to it, if care is not taken, 85 per cent of us cannot get that performance bonus.

“You are trying to instil discipline, but there is no staff bus for drivers who come from as far as Sango-Ota, Badagry and Agbara without alternative accommodation arrangement,’’ he said.

He added that drivers who could not afford to sleep on the bridge adjourning the BRT bus shelter often pay N500 monthly, to sleep in a nearby church.

“We have pleaded with them to give us a place, but that is not forthcoming’’, he said.