Those lucky busmen
I suppose the least popular people in Malta right now are bus owners, who have turned down an offer already considered to be truly exorbitant because they want another €10 million.
They are even less popular than the government, if that is at all possible.
They have been offered €98,000 for each old bus – and there are 370 of them on the road – and €118,000 for each low-floor bus (the ‘new’ ones, of which there are 130). Over and above this, they also get a 10-year guaranteed job with the new public transport service provider, which will start off saddled already with a burden it does not need.
As Helga Ellul at the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry pointed out forcefully a few days ago, this is not the way the real world works.
Bus-drivers who are currently operating the routes should be interviewed for a job with the new transport service provider, yes, and it is likely that most of them will be taken on. After all, it makes much more sense to take on those who know the job and the routes already, rather than to begin finding and training people afresh.
But a guaranteed job? I hardly think so. Forcing employers to keep people on the payroll even when they are redundant is the way the Labour government of the 1970s and early 1980s thought and acted.
I can see where the government is coming from on this, even though I think the sums involved are too much and that the bus-owners are being credited with more leverage than they really have.
Endless attempts have been made to bring our public transport system into the modern age, but all have failed. The bus owners appear to be in an entrenched position.
So right now, it’s a matter of whatever will do the job just has to be done. But it’s hard to stomach.
The Public Transport Association has presented the Transport Minister with its list of wants, and the reasons why it has rejected that quite lucrative offer of €52.4 million. They say this kind of compensation is not enough, because it doesn’t cover their investment.
They want €116,000 for old buses and €140,000 for low-floor buses, and that means a whole package of €62 million, plus the 10-year guaranteed jobs.
The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry has spoken of its “utter disbelief” at what is going on. It says the government is being irresponsible with taxpayers’ money. It’s easy to understand the anger: at a time when businesses are faced with much higher utilities bills, they have to watch such great sums of money being given away to people who are more or less holding the state to ransom.
There is no connection between the two. The government can’t take that €62 million, or €52.4 million, and use it to give cheap electricity to businesses. That certainly is not, to quote Mrs Ellul, how the real world works. But a sense of moral outrage certainly does kick in here. It just doesn’t seem right, or fair.
The Transport Minister has gone out of his way to point out that the money will not come from central government funds, but from the transport authority’s budget – but to anyone standing out here, that’s all the same. ‘Borma wahda’, as the Maltese saying goes.
There doesn’t seem to be a way out. I imagine we are all agreed that the situation cannot go on as it is. The bus system no longer serves its proper public purpose, which is why a car and a driving licence are the lifeline of most citizens of these tiny, overcrowded islands.
It appears that the government’s plan is to scrap the old buses and sell the new ones to the incoming operator. Vintage ones, and this is the amusing bit, will go on show in a transport museum. Perhaps after a certain number of years, we will be able to look at them without feeling annoyed, and with merely a sense of disbelief that we ever lived like that and that this was our public transport system.
Whichever way you look at it, it’s make or break time. Maybe it really is a case of paying them whatever it takes to get rid of them at last.
And then it’s on to the next battle – ticket prices. I rather suspect that the principle of ‘you get what you pay for’ will not go down too well with those who are used to paying a few cents for a bus trip and might yet find they have to pay more, even if it’s for better service on a newer bus, with a driver who doesn’t curse you or make you think he’s doing you a favour by allowing you up.
That’s one bridge that’s going to have to be crossed before long, no doubt about it.
This article is published in The Malta Independent today.
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Ahjar min “Borma wahda” : “But wiehed” taghna it – taxpayers !
I simply love your witty header.
Sarkozy’s yesterday’s key-note address lays down a vibrant agenda for capitalist reform… was not too complimentary on the way the ‘world’ works…did not feel that key current practices address the actual needs of the real world…
Once you wrote how you always used the bus (some time ago, can’t remember when), and once a bus driver even gave you a free ride because you didn’t have small change or forgot your purse (from Bombi I think) and even that you sat down with a “duly grateful look”
I think it was you anyway! (and years before this site).
[Daphne – It can’t be. I use the bus only in exceptional circumstances (though when I worked in Ta’ Xbiex and had to pop in to Valletta, it was easier to take the bus) and I’ve been driving since the age of 18. But yes, some drivers are very kind, though many are awful. That’s why there should not be a guaranteed job, but only an interview – so that the nice ones get in and the ghastly ones are dropped from the system.]
Daphne, I remember that opinion piece quite clearly. It was complementary towards that bus driver who gave you a free ride, but I do not think you said that you used the public transport regularly as David is stating.
Anyway some of the drivers are fine, but the younger ones are horrible. The problem is that they lack proper leadership, and similar to a gang, the decent drivers are bullied into submission by the vocal and arrogant drivers. I know a few drivers/owners who sold their buses years ago because they could not stand the situation any more.
Well like I said, it was years ago so my apologies!
“Maybe it really is a case of paying them whatever it takes to get rid of them at last.”
Get rid of the bad apples at last would be something. However, this is not what is being offered. As I understood it, this offer is giving the bus drivers a whole load of cash and a guranteed job for ten years to every single bad apple there is. How will this improve the system?
You can have as many shiny new buses as you like and enough bus routes and bus stops to cover every street in Malta but if the service is not up to scratch all this money would have been spent in vain.
What will happen when the new operator decides that some of the drivers are simply not human enough to be in public as are most of our bus drivers ? Will the operator be lumbered with them for ten years ? IS THS FOR REAL OR AM I TRIPPING ?
Where the hell is that little gimp of an opposition leader in all this. Shouldn’t he be screaming foul at the top of his lungs at this stage ? jew ha noholqu xi saction tal- Bus drivers issa wkoll?
And I thought everything was going to be new, with new buses (clean ones, I mean), new drivers (sorry, but most of them are rubbish) and new routes.
Sorry, the government is really making a terrible mistake this time. These people are just like pirates on the streets. They either rob you or leave to rot on the bus-stop – which is utterly unfair.
I really don’t like the look of this.
Reading this piece of news whilst cramming case law ahead of a law exam filled me with such joy and hope for this country. This administration has seriously gone haywire but knows that it can afford (pun quasi-intended) to do so since the alternative to it is even worse.
What really annoys me is not that these drivers are being awarded for their incompetence but that there are thousands of other diligent individuals who were fired as their workplace hit troubled waters and save for the case of the workers in the manufacturing industry, no Gonzi, no Austin or anyone else for all it matters stepped in. Now that’s what I call level playing field.
And remember, they were all given great subsidies to buy the new buses – the low-floor. How’s that for sustainability – subsidy for a new bus and seven years down the road, subsidy to take it off the road again.
The busmen and the bakers were the only two sectors with whom Mintoff couldn’t get to grips.
insejt lil kaccaturi…
You forgot the doctors Leonard.
I don’t agree, John. Mintoff might have acted like a bulldozer but the doctors did not have it their way. With the busmen and the bakers there would be strikes and shutdowns, mediations and conciliations – primarily for the government to save face – and ultimately higher fares for the same shitty service and higher prices for smaller loaves.
Aha! Ten more years of guaranteed thuggery, Reform in action! Hey, all you tourists–c’mon down. For just a few cents, you can see real, live Neanderthals in their natural habitat, unchained and uncaged. Bus ride thrown in (if you’re not thrown off).
Hopefully the new bus operator will weed out the bad apples*. I’m assuming that the job guarantee will not be valid in the case of dismissal for disciplinary reasons. We can therefore expect a number of drivers to be fired because they skip trips, swear at passengers, use some illegal smelly concoction as fuel, overspeed or drive at an overly relaxed pace, short-change tourists, keep their buses filthy, use their mobile while driving and all the other niceties that we accept as normal at present.
*mixing metaphors but at least they’re both gardening ones.
Ofcourse he has to please them otherwise they would rebel and embarrass us in front of tourists. If it was me I would remove all the arrogant idiots which are an embarrassment to the public transport system. Probably 8 out of ten are such. Last time I was getting on a bus and the driver said full up, I didn’t hear him immediately so he decided to push me back almost making me fall back out of the bus. Such customer care. Now I’m maltese and a 29 yr old guy who can defend himself. Imagine how much worse they bully the tourists.
Tajba din eh! Mela a few years back these kings of the road each got a handsome 80,000 euro subsidy which if I read correctly they get to keep, over and above the 123,000 euro handout agreed on yesterday, plus a 10 year job contract to boot.
and the rest of us naqalaw ic-cocli biex naghmlu an honest buck.
So, now that I’m angry I have to mention the 55,000,000 euro going to these gangsters (well OK, not ALL of them are), 70,000,000 euro for ‘smart meters’ (which were definitely not a priority) 37,000,000 euro loss due to the Drydocks Fairmount contract, 200,000,000 euro for a power station with never ending question marks and so on.
I’m sorry to ask, but who the heck is accountable for all these zeros?
Did anyone spot this on The Sunday Times front page last Sunday? I quote:
”Mr Zammit was appointed Air Malta chairman in June 2003 at a time when the airline was plagued with debt. He piloted the airline through a rescue plan but the company is still in the red – by about €25 million.(now confirmed to be €30,000,000)………………………………………. Minister Fenech expressed confidence in him, saying the government’s trust in the chairman was “unquestioned”.” Rich!
Effin’ incredible how we keep shooting ourselves in the foot, ammunition on a platter for our friend Joey.
Good article……. for once you touch where it really matters.
Some points to further expand the discussion (which I find is the fun part about a blog):
– Hopefully guaranteed job for 10 years means on condition they follow the company standard that employs them…. would be worth clarifying this.
– It would also be interesting to know if after purchasing the new buses, less subsidy, less depreciation, what their actual value would be…. i.e. how much profit are the bus owners earning?
– I guess the government can’t just fire these guys, since the new operator is not ready therefore if the government did not come to terms with them, they would strike forever.
– Whoever is negotiating, il-vera bla bxxx … can’t the government come up with someone better?
“Pimp my ride” is an understatement.
Might there be any shrinks in Malta, whose main speciality is to treat political stupidity?
Loud bark no bite or bajd if you prefer. You should be ashamed of yourself, Austin.
I wish to add another relevant comment. The state is going to end the bus owners business and so it is right that they be compensated. The other option is to do like 1973 when Labour nationalised the National Bank without compensating the owners.
Where did you get the idea that public transport in Malta is cheap? I think it is extremely expensive considering what you get in return. It is years since I used it, but the last time I did, a return from A to B, including a change of bus, cost me around 40c, roughly equivalent to €1. This for the privilege of riding in a smelly bus that should have been scrapped long before I was born.
Compare to a one hour unlimited ride in Amsterdam in an air-conditioned comfortable tram or bus for the same amount of €1 (a bit more if you buy on the tram) and if you take a daily ticket it would cost you around €1.60.
My father has been in the farming buisness for 40 years self-employed and was never offered such deals. Today you go to l-pitkali tal-biki kollox b’xejn and never offered these millions in compensation for agents getting vegetables from Italy and in two years’ time from Africa too.
I am starting to envy Joseph Muscat, because he will have no Drydocks, no old bus system, new power station and the rest.
The irony will be that they will be elected due to the hard decisions taken by this government.
I only suggest to Gonzi and company to change the country as they are doing, but they need to also measure and consider the effects of change on our lives and life hood. A lot of sudden changes are leaving a lot of people hurt, with no solution and considerations at all.
I learned this from experience: you change your job or boss and you change your problems. One never gets rid of problems (opportunities), no one can guarantee that your car tyre would never have a puncture.
I think Joseph will be the problem if he becomes our prime minister.
One must keep in mind that Gonzi is the only Maltese PM who worked with the EU breathing down his neck. He’s walking a tight-rope which no other Maltese PM ever walked before him not even Mintoff or Eddie.
Love them or hate them, their businesses are worth more than what is being given to them. But I can’t imagine who is giving this advice to Austin Gatt. He could have done much more bil-kelma t-tajba than by confronting them and having to pay top dollar for the licences.
The bus ticket prices are going to be a bit higher when the voyage is after 08.00.
@ Holland: in Bangkok they have an excellent train system, but one cannot compare Amsterdam or Bangkok with Malta, the amount of commuters using the transport system is important in establishing the ticket prices.
The bus owners will be selling their business also when they sell their buses .Guaranteeing a 9,486 euro job for ten years is no big deal for a bus driver.
I am utterly shocked at the extravagant way the government is dealing with bus owners. I have to agree that it is being irresponsible with taxpayers’ money. Absolutely disgraceful. I have lived in the UK for the past 27 years and I am really pissed off with this. I can’t imagine how Maltese taxpayers feel about the whole sorry saga.
I cannot understand why the administration says that there will not be any more subsidies. Most world cities and countries have subsidized fares for environmental reasons and for citizens to come to the conclusion that ” b’tal – linja jaqbillek’ and so fewer cars on the roads.
What about us who work in the private sector? The drydocks workers got millions, EneMalta, Telecom, Air Malta, Alfred Sant for losing (through his own fault) the opposition leadership, other ex ministers or MPs to whom the voters gave a vote of no confidence, so on and so on.It seems the more one is incompetent and unreliable the more one gets in this country. In the meantime private enterprise and private employees suffer.
The ticket prices have already been published, along with the new route network. I think they’re pretty crappy though they are something of an improvement. Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll see a decent system in operation before I kick the bucket.
If anyone watched TVM tonight, they would have seen a bunch of thugs (sorry, hard working and now, rich, bus drivers) waiting outside the ATP offices expressing tremendous enthusiasm (make that screaming and shouting, with a lot of blasphemous language thrown in for good measure) to sign up for a 10-year contract with the new employers.
”Hmar taqtalu denbu, hmar jibqa”, (with apologies to Mr Cuschieri my old Maltese literature teacher),
or is it hanzir D?
[Daphne – Both.]
There is a solution to this blackmail. If the PM has the guts that is. Tear up the offer – sack all the drivers – confiscate all the buses – enact legislation if you have to – this happens when Governments need to take houses for roads. If a government wants to act – it can as it has the power to legislate whatever it wishes to do. Whilst this is being done – bring in the army to replace the sacked drivers and slowly start to build a new trained polite and acceptable workforce. Bob Hawke did it in Australia in the late eighties against the arrogant airline pilots. He had the balls and won the day- does Gonzi? The unemployed or unemployable bus drivers – well bad luck – thats life and shit happens.
[Daphne – You’re an awful man, Raphael Dingli, do you know that?]
Maybe the suggestion of bringing in the army is a bit extreme, but yes decisions have to be taken. Legislation should be enacted which does not allow operators of essential services to strike.
Government cannot keep being blackmailed be it by the kaccaturi, drydocks, Airmalta baggage handlers, stevedores, taxi drivers, bus drivers, civil servants, nurses, doctor, GRTU, students …. the list is endless.
We don’t blackmail anybody, Ronnie…..not unless we have to. Those days are over. We discuss and convince. And we reach agreements. That’s GRTU today….all 7000-odd members of it. Including the Gozo bus drivers, who will get a far worse deal than the Maltese ones, simply for being oltremare.
All this violent speak is coming from a man who lives in a country where its illegal to play grand theft auto.
aussie fail.
Din l-istorja turi li wara kollox Austin Gatt m’ghandux bajd tal-azzar daqskemm ipinguh…. u illi l-arja w il-ksuhat hu jurihom ma min hu dghajjef.
With drivers guaranteed emplyment for 10 years with the new operators I doubt if they will miraculously stop swearing at passengers. If this article is correct,
http://mail.mcast.edu.mt/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1245210/Med-stop-Arrivas-bendy-buses.html%23ixzz0dopEEbDH,
we won’t be getting new buses either.
The link is not accessible – password restricted.
new buses jonqosna hi!
A few days ago I was on a bus which had the following written in large letters:
I WISH YOU TWICE YOU WISH FOR ME
It would be lovely if cash will be coming my way in the immediate future.
I am not 100% happy on the outcome of the whole situation but it appears to be the only solution, or so it seems. Whatever, what I would like to know is that if the present bus drivers are being engaged by the new operator will they be subject to a code of discipline – after which no doubt they will join the GWU and then start striking when discipline is enforced, even at the level of dismissal for a just cause ? Is it true that we will not have new buses ?
If the answer is yes to both questions, then the reform is going to be just on paper I am afraid and we will be back to square one.
Off on a tangent but the Noel Arrigo appeal hearing started yesterday. How about starting a new thread?
Government is showing more lack of leadership by giving in to these outrageous demands. But we’ve been here before with the Drydocks, civil service and many others.
Government buys industrial peace at an extremely high price. If only they had the cojones to do the right thing and tell them all to f**ck off and thank their lucky stars that the ride has lasted so long.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1245210/Med-stop-Arrivas-bendy-buses.html%23ixzz0dopEEbDH,
The most outrageous comment from the bus owners was on The Times today, stating that they felt like they were queuing up for Auschwitz.
Do you expect any better?
I just can’t stop laughing at the uninformed comments. Some are indeed outright stupid. Perhaps it’s good to remind you all of the silent revolution or ‘terremot’, as Joseph would put it, this country has undergone, without any social disruption.
Here is an aide memoire as to what the situation was in Malta in May 1987: 8000 workers (yes eight thousand) with Malta Drydocks and Malta Shipbuilding (today there are 80); Kalaxlokk – 2000 workers (today nil); Airmalta (600 less staff), TeleMalta (1000 less staff), Posta/Maltapost 900 in 1987 (today 500); Waterworks/drainage dept 2600 (today 1600). The port controlled by Cargo Handling Company, a GWU company, whose contract was not renewed without any compensation.
No water in our taps, no doctors in our hospitals, an airport terminal without a baggage carousel, a coal-fired power station, 1 state TV station with one brand of colour TV; a telephone network donated by a third world country, with a waiting list stretching some 10 years; a leaking grain silo with gurbiena growing in it; a Freeport terminal without cranes, and lying idle, today privatised and employing 1300.
Forcibly nationalized banks which loaned money without any security if your colour was red. People smuggled currency in their shoes to go abroad because you were only allowed Lm500.
Back to the point about buses. These were self-employed bus owners. They are not government employees being given the sack. If we are to respect the value of a licence, then compensation is indeed due to them …Helga Ellul please note.
The 10-year job guarantee has a number of conditions that drivers must fulfill – including discipline.
Ms Ellul certainly has nothing to complain about – the very good subsidy for her huge factory , and a subsidy on the energy her factory consumes. Has she invested one single euro in photovoltaic cells at her plant? Oh come on, Helga – it seems you have been in Malta so long that even you have now become a moaner wanting everything for free.
I love Malta, the only place on earth where a bus driver can get tenure.