On Wednesday January 12, workers in the public transport came to a strike for a few hours. The next day, Thursday, January 13, they proceed to a 24-hour strike, although the so called Justice rushed to declare, as always, all strikes illegal and abusive, confirming once again its class role. Despite this, workers in public transport, bypassing the union bureaucracy, resist the dismantling of public transport and the imposition of a of modern slavery regime, which is promoted by the totalitarian democracy with this fascist government bill. Three strikes have been called for this week.
The stupefaction and disinformation media, being loyal to their dirty role as a crutch of the dictatorship, tried again to stammer out the same old song of “fatigue caused to passengers due to abusive strikes “, silencing what awaits us if we do not resist the vortex that the regime they serve is preparing for us. There follows a summary of the main points of this monstrous government bill.
– The Minister of Transport becomes an absolute ruler, as from now on he will have the right to regulate any matter concerning labor relations of workers in public transport, even though his regulations deviate from the government bill that his own government is going to vote! All changes in labor relations “are applied and carried out, notwithstanding any other provision of the existing law”. This means that with this law all the labor rights, that were in effect by now, are revoked! This is a permanent and totalitarian “state of emergency”, under the general pretext of the crisis and the specific pretext of mismanagement and embezzlement in the services of general interest.
– At first, there will be made 1,500 compulsory transfers of workers (change of their working place /post ) to other administrative organizations, and possibly other cities, with a salary based on the conditions of the administrative organization of the transfer destination. The new position (post) of these workers will be determined by the Administration, “without any commitment to the skills and / or the type of work of the worker in his former post”. The Administrative Organization may transfer an employee as often as its wishes to! Workers are not just disposable, they are turned into modern slaves. Among those who will be transferred (at this stage), more than half worked in the transport sector (at transport, not in an office). As buses and trolley buses do not move by themselves, further cuts and abbreviations of itineraries are expected, and therefore, further degradation of public transport. In a second stage, the government bill provides further transfers of workers…
– Regulations, arbitration and collective employment agreements are going to be eliminated and replaced by enterprise contracts. If workers and employers (now the State, in the future some individuals) do not reach an agreement within 30 days, and since the in new regime there will be no arbitration, the absolute sovereign intervene. With this government bill the minister is expected to “fix the final disagreement with a new law”.
– Privatization is gradually promoted in various ways. Firstly, the Organization of Transportation may “establish some public limited companies in order to provide transportation or similar services”. Secondly, through the degradation and dismantling of public transport. Third, with the amendment of the legislation, whose new content is perfectly suited to the working conditions of modern capitalist slavery imposed by multinational enterprises in the most cruel, totalitarian regimes of the so called Third World. Finally, from now the Organization will be running with the operational criteria of a private corporation…
– The criterion of the profit completely overshadows the one of the people’s benefit. State funding for public transportation, as a refund of taxes and contributions of its subjects, decreases and reaches nearly half of the current one! The subject will be working, consuming and paying (taxes, contributions, services) to the Capital, state or private. The fares of transport increase from 20 to 40%. The bus lines to be characterized unprofitable will be eliminated -in whole or in part-, or will be joined with other ones (this has already been done in the whole sector of transport and has caused an incredible suffering, queues and crowding).
– Public transport and its stations become a fiefdom of ticket controllers. These parasites, which appropriate a 50% of fines imposed to passengers caught without a ticket, reach a higher level and from now on they will operate as a private army of repression and money collection.