No big buses again today: Employees ABC bus company on strike

WILLEMSTAD - The management of Autobusbedrijf Curaçao announced on Monday that there are no buses from the company operating on Tuesday. Yesterday the drivers went on strike and all buses came to a standstill. This happened after the government had failed to respond to the call from the UGTK / CADMU union on Friday for attention to the precarious situation in which the bus company finds itself. The union had set a deadline for the government.

The problems at Autobusbedrijf Curaçao have been going on for a long time. In January 2019, the company had to borrow money to pay the salaries. There was no more money because the government was behind in providing subsidies and at that point the company's reserves were exhausted.

Politician Anthony Godett had already sounded the alarm through the media in November last year. He was concerned about the situation at ABC-Busbedrijf because the government had budgeted almost two million guilders less on subsidy for the year 2021. According to the politician, people will lose their jobs, buses will be less well maintained and routes will be scrapped.

Godett even suspects that bus drivers will be fired and then forced to apply through employment agencies so that they can return cheaper through this construction.

Earlier, chairman Wendell Muelen of the UGTK / CADMU union asked for attention for the cutbacks. According to Muelen, the government is not adhering to previously made agreements with the bus company.

According to the UGTK / CADMU union, the government is abandoning the company. The drivers also want the government to help the ailing company, but Minister of Traffic, Transport and Spatial Planning Zita Jesus-Leito does not seem to want to respond. Conversations that took place yesterday have yielded nothing.

Today, the ABC Bus Company head office is also closed, as are the information centers in Punda and Otrobanda. The company apologizes to travelers.




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