Crisis, what crisis? In Malta grown men throw their jobs back in your face and tell you to keep them.
I suppose it’s a reflection on just how good we have it in Malta – despite the moaning of the jghixu f’bozza people in the Labour Party – that 60 men merrily threw away their jobs yesterday on a whim.
Arriva means business and so does the General Workers Union this time, which means those 60 men are now going to have all the time in the world to work on their black-market trades or at their second jobs.
Instead of a split shift they’re going to have no shift at all, and though I hate to say it, serves them bloody well right.
The entire country is sick of those people throwing their weight around and behaving as though they are accountable to nobody.
They were the absolute pits three years ago, smashing the windscreens of cars and vans which picked up tourists stranded at the airport, trying to block main traffic arteries and the rest.
They can go to hell and stay there.
The 60 men who didn’t turn up for work on the buses, deliberately causing widespread chaos and delays, were all – what a surprise – owner/drivers in the old public transport regime. They seem not to have understood that they no longer have leverage. It’s not their bus. They are employees with a proper company. They are no longer petty despots of the road.
And they have been replaced already, within 24 hours, by 55 British substitute drivers who are being flown in. Those British drivers are not ‘taking the jobs of the Maltese’ because the Maltese don’t want those jobs. If they did, they would have turned up to work, and then gone ahead and done just that – worked.
More Maltese drivers will now be trained so that the British drivers can go home to their lives and families. But I strongly suggest to Arriva, and I am not the first to do so, that they recruit and train African immigrants whose manners, courtesy, civility and work ethic are above and beyond anything you can expect from Maltese rednecks.
If you have to teach a grown man or woman to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and to address customers in complete and coherent sentences, then you’re on a non-starter. I think Arriva has just discovered that.
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“They are no longer petty despots of the road.”
AMEN TO THAT. They can rot in hell.
Be careful – lynch mobs usually hang the wrong people.
I never said anything about lynch mobs. Forced labour would be better – we can start by looking at the video of those who rushed Castille, bet you most of them are the ones who are sabotaging the bus service. Having said this, without them the bus service would still be poor due to the buggy computer system and poor quality control – sometimes the cheapest option is the most expensive one.
Can anyone translate this?
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110704/local/air-malta-declares-dispute-with-air-malta-over-jobs-guarantee.373813
The union said it would continue to insist that the workers should be given a job so that they could then be able to decide their future once they could see the full picture.
Well done and congratulations to these thugs who seem to have been very successful in making their views known by sabotaging Arriva’s launch.
Hopefully it is the last roar (or should I say gasp) of a dying species. Sometimes extinction is a good thing.
I don’t think sacking them is nearly enough – I think Arriva should sue them for damages.
On another note I was pleasantly surprised by the GWU’s position. Hopefully they will maintain that position and not object to these workers being sacked, or even better sued.
The GWU is a different kettle of fish when dealing with private companies. It only causes mayhem when it deals with state-owned ones.
If they were on fire, I wouldn’t piss on them.
The 58 drivers who did not turn up for work had a right to speak up because technically their contract was breached.
Prudence and patience are two virtues of which these machos don’t even have one P.
If they had the patience to let things settle down and be prudent and co-operate in the most delicate moment, they would have saved us and themselves from a lot of trouble.
Some hindsight – if only Arriva would have brought in those 50 drivers a week before the service started, there wouldn’t have been the need of introducing the split shift.
[John Schembri – Some hindsight – if only Arriva would have brought in those 50 drivers a week before the service started, there wouldn’t have been the need of introducing the split shift].
It doesn’t work that way. The foreign drivers were inconvenienced only to replace the thugs who unilaterally decided to make an illegal “strike” (read sabotage). I would think they would rather be employed close to their families.
The only fault Arriva has in all this, is in not predicting that once a thug, always a thug, and predict that these “drivers” would have failed to turn up to work just to sabotage their employer. That’s what I deduce “with hindsight”.
Some of the ‘nicest’ people I was introduced to turned out to be the white collar equivalent of the ‘bus driver’.
Nobody had warned me.
Bringing in an extra 50 drivers would have pushed up costs. Why should a commercial company have to pay for its employees’ tantrums?
The drivers’ contracts do not appear to have been breached. They weren’t asked to work longer hours without additional pay – their original claim, and the basis for their objection – they were asked to work the same number of hours but at a different time, and their union negotiated additional compensation for the inconvenience.
Now ask yourself what those drivers would do if they needed urgent medical care – for which they would not pay – and emergency medical staff threw tantrums and decided not to turn up to work or to allow ambulances out on the road.
Going to work two times a day in a space of four hours is a big inconvenience.
What can one do in four hours before going to work?
[Daphne – Why don’t you try asking the thousands of people who work in shops here, and have to fiddle around between 1pm and 4pm? Or the hotel waiters who go in for the breakfast shift, clock off, return for the lunch shift and then maybe again for the supper shift? If those drivers don’t like it they can get another job, but they might find that their attitude is a problem.]
The employer (Arriva) will win any legal battle on the premise that the workers were on six months probation , during which they can be fired for no specific reason.
I won’t ask the salesmen and the waiters, Daphne. I am just saying that it is an inconvenience to go to work two times a day.
[Daphne – Yes, obviously. But then so is breaking rocks in a quarry. The fact remains that nobody gets paid to be comfortable. That’s why it’s called work. I don’t like working away until 4am to meet a print deadline, either, but I do it. You’ve probably had your tough hours too as an engineer.]
One has to also keep in mind that EU regulations stipulate that bus drivers cannot be on the job for more than 8 hours per day.
[Daphne – That’s right: AT THE WHEEL. Hence the split shift, four hours on and four hours off, followed by four hours on and back home.]
The drivers will lose their work not because they had a wrong argument, but because of the rash way they handled the situation. The machos thought they knew how to handle things better than the union.
Probably they had no agreement on split shifts, that’s why the GWU got them the 35 euro daily bonus.
The Italian saying fits perfectly here “patti chiari amicizia lunga”.
The 55 British drivers are temporary though and have to be replaced within a month. Are there 55 trained bus drivers looking for employment in Malta? I would prefer they kept them, but seems like fluency in Maltese is a requirement.
Couldn’t contain my frustration when I read the interview with the bus driver in The Sunday Times yesterday. He got €100k+ for his crappy old banger. How many buses were sold/scrapped at that price?
I just hope there was a real transaction with the Euro 100k – in the sense that the bus was handed in for scrapping. If this was not the case, those drivers might even fetch a few more thousand Euros selling it for what it’s worth on the market for vintage vehicles. Or they may live with the illusion that one day they will roll back onto the streets of Malta to provide a shabby public transport service from the villages to the Tritons.
They had it coming. The GWU has no excuse to cover up for them any more.
The GWU acted sensibly all through.
The best news I heard in a long time.
These insubordinate men are the same bus drivers who caused inconvenience to us, the public, who depend on the bus service.
Let them rot.
The worst cohort in Malta is over 35, male, unskilled and Maltese. It is not surprising that Malta’s standards are lowest in the areas where this cohort is heavily involved – old bus system, hunting, construction industry, Paceville bouncers and fireworks.
Succinct and concurred.
News item: ‘Evidence of Neanderthals found by researchers in Maltese hunting blinds and old buses.’
Very well put. Perhaps a sociologist can come up with a study of this cohort which is characterised by anti-social behaviour. In Europe, the problem is usually among young men, but surprisingly in Malta anti-social behaviour is typical of 30 to 40 year-old men and therefore much more dangerous and inexcusable.
Anti-social behaviour is becoming a serious problem in Malta which can lead to the breakdown of the fabric of society. The government should start to address ASB as the UK government has been doing.
Yes indeed. I have always wondered why in Malta there seems to be an inverse correlation between age and maturity particularly in matters of democratic development, party politics and work ethics, and I am not referring to the unskilled only.
At my place of work it’s the over 50s who are the laziest, the fussiest and generally the less creative.
Arriva should set an example and sue them all for sabotage. They gave Malta a bad name.
In fact it is in our national interest that these hooligans are sued. They should pay for all the damages that caused the company.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/arriva-brings-in-foreign-drivers#comment-27638
Some of the comments make me think we actually deserved the old shoddy service.
Correction – the people posting those comments deserve the same old shoddy service. Everyone else does not.
Finally, this ignorant bunch will not piss off any more people. So all in all, they have done the public a favour. Something that they are not familiar with. Good riddance.
Spot on, Daphne! What I’ve just read is what I and many others have been thinking all along.
The shameful behaviour of these drivers was premeditated. They never intended working at Arriva but purposely joined the workforce to be able to carry out their malicious intent at the expense of the suffering public.
Let’s hope Arriva will quickly overcome all the hurdles so that we may start enjoying a long-awaited, decent public transport service.
Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio!
Aha! The escapees from the Planet of the Apes have finally been captured.
Prediction: The apes will escape and vandalize Arriva bus stops and buses.
I share with you the same concern. I don’t think we have seen their last act as yet.
I fully support Arriva, and that they should fire those 60 drivers at once.
Those men have done enough damage to their own reputation and that of the Maltese public transport in the past. Now they seem hell-bent to inflict damage on Arriva, the public and the government’s determination for public transport reform.
My concern is that the immaturity shown by those 60 drivers is very pervasive within Maltese society. I do not know how to explain it exactly, but it is like one pretending a job, but then, once the job is provided, one pretends not to do the job.
‘My concern is that the immaturity shown by those 60 drivers is very pervasive within Maltese society’.
…and guess where and when it all started!
What I find so depressing is that the government preferred to choose a foreign company to deal with the new transport system, while this new foreign company still managed to be an epic fail. Why does our government even care to invest in our education when the Maltese people can do worse than Arriva?
I am not referring to the drivers situation. Though, what about the ticketing system? Did they do testing beforehand. Apart this there were other failures which could have been avoided by doing simple evaluation and testing. These results show how not serious the company is.
Apart this, Arriva preferred to hire foreigners rather than the Maltese people. So the million dollar question is, “Are these British drivers going to be paid 35EUR daily?”
Other questions that I would ask, who is going to pay for the flights for these British drivers to come to Malta? and their accommodation? and expenses while living in Malta?
I totally agree that the Maltese drivers are not educated and ignorant. Though, when thinking about it, what you give is what you get. If the drivers would have a descent salary they would have something to be motivated about. I definitely won’t be motivated for 35EUR daily.
[Daphne – Where did you get the ’35 euros daily’? Can’t you work out that it’s not possible, when women who clean homes in the black economy are paid 25 to 30 euros to work from 9am to 1pm?]
It’s 35 euros over and above their wage. A ‘mini’ bonus to compensate those who work the split shifts!
[Daphne – Yes, but the witterers on the internet have turned it into their ‘daily waych’. Give them a lie and they’ll repeat it ad nauseam until in their minds it is the truth. Did you know, for example, that I fly around on a broomstick at night and that my sons are drug dealers and rapists? Frigging ignorant peasants with a ‘leptop’ and internet connAction…]
yes gimme a leptop and an internet connection and still will be an IT University graduate!
That’s what the impression that I took from the newspapers. I take back everything that I said previously if that is not true. Still would say that I expected better from Arriva (I know that’s not the point).
“Every cloud has it’s silver lining”
Let’s look at the bright side of the matter.
It is obvious that what they are doing is just to disrupt the new bus service, and they waited for the cheques before venting their vengance.
They think that we will be saying that it ‘was better when it was worse’. They are mistaken, even though we have to wait for a few more days for the service to be what we expect. Their cowardly actions have proven that we have at last got rid of them, and we are ready to suffer a few more days and then we will all say GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD RUBBISH.
Keep it up, ARRIVA – all Malta is backing you.
Kenneth Galea, I assume you’re competent in computer languages but definitely less so in human ones such as. English). You don’t take an impression from the papers: you get one. I could cite other examples, too.
Normally, I wouldn’t have corrected you (you might have learning difficulties for all I know) but it’s unacceptable for the university to churn out ‘graduates’ with only a very basic knowledge – a mere sprinkling – of English.
This is what they’re grumbling about.
“Mela b’paga ta’ mitejn ewro se nitma familja?” How can I keep a family on 200 euros a week?
Well, after pressing I find out that their take-home money is 200 euros and actually their wage is 248 euros, which means 13,000 euros a year.
If they work split shifts, they get an extra 35 euros a day , thanks to the GWU we must say.
Split shift means driving for four hours, resting for four hours, then driving for another four hours.
Ghandi zewg kummenti:
1) Mela kemm illostja tiekol il-familja?
2) Jien ghandi 17000 f’sena u ghandi iktar minn 3 O Levels. Dawn b’min iridu jitnejku? U fuq kollox, possibli hadd m’ghandu l-bajd jghidilhom dal-kliem?
The 35 euros per day is not their daily pay but what they get EXTRA for the inconvenience of the four hours between the split shifts.
They get paid more per hour for those four hours than many people get paid for actually doing work.
@Kenneth Galea,
I assume you are simply a Blogus Trollus but anyway –
“What I find so depressing is that the government preferred to choose a foreign company to deal with the new transport system”
Kindly name the Maltese company\consortium that offered a better deal, and if there weren’t, how the government could have awarded them the contract without breaking the law.
“what about the ticketing system? Did they do testing beforehand.” No amount of testing will eliminate these kind of problems.
“Apart this, Arriva preferred to hire foreigners rather than the Maltese people. So the million dollar question is,
Do you know of 50 qualified bus drivers just standing by with nothing to do in Malta (apart from the goons who were sacked?)
“Are these British drivers going to be paid 35EUR daily?” ”
Arriva is a private company so none of your business.
“Other questions that I would ask, who is going to pay for the flights for these British drivers to come to Malta? and their accommodation? and expenses while living in Malta?”
See above – what’s that to do with you?
David, are you that bored?
Just quote Harold Wilson who once told a female heckler ‘madam, I can only give you the facts, I cannot give you the apparatus to deal with them’.
[Kenneth Galea – Apart this, Arriva preferred to hire foreigners rather than the Maltese people. So the million dollar question is, “Are these British drivers going to be paid 35EUR daily?”].
Arriva brought in the British drivers as an emergency measure. If you know around 50 fully qualified (and I don’t mean just the ability to take you from A to B) Maltese drivers wishing to be employed with Arriva to replace those who quit on their first day (sure will look wonderful on their CV), I’m certain that Arriva will be pleased to know about them. If anything, it will save them on flight and accomodation expenses.
As for how much the temporary British drivers will be paid, they will of course retain the same wages they earned in the UK (plus any other expenses they incur, I assume). Inconveniencing them by seperating them from their families is enough, I would think. Do you suggest we thank them by cutting down their wages?
[Kenneth Galea – Other questions that I would ask, who is going to pay for the flights for these British drivers to come to Malta? and their accommodation? and expenses while living in Malta?].
I would assume that Arriva would be paying the expenses. However, I also hope that Arriva will sue the saboteurs for damages (including, but not limited to, flight and accomodation expenses for the UK drivers).
[Kenneth Galea – I totally agree that the Maltese drivers are not educated and ignorant. Though, when thinking about it, what you give is what you get. If the drivers would have a descent salary they would have something to be motivated about. I definitely won’t be motivated for 35EUR daily].
No one forced them to work for Arriva. And your “35EUR” is a figment of your imagination.
The Scorpions’ Winds of change is playing in my head. Hopefully this country is improving. I think it would have been better had the government brought in a number of extra drivers on standby before the launching of the service. It’s not like this wasn’t predictable.
[Daphne – (Draws breath here…) What does the government have to do with it? THIS IS A PRIVATE COMPANY WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. PRIVATE. PRIVATISATION. That is the point -that the government is no longer involved and no longer has to be involved.]
Daphne, the concept of “private” and “privatisation” is beyond certain people. It’s always the state, il-Gvern and other institutions which are, ultimately, paid for by the working classes (meaning in this case, all those who get up in the morning and go to work, irrespectively of whether they do it out of necessity, hobby or just self-improvement).
[Daphne – Yes, I was struck while reading the newspapers last Sunday by how the Malta Developers Association wants the government to analyse the real estate market. Errr, isn’t that something they should be organising themselves, and paying for? That’s what lobby/producer organisations DO.]
Have you seen the comments on timesofmalta.com? Even timesofmalta.com, in my humble opinion, is not doing a great service, running articles on how long it took Tom, Dick and Harry to get from Piont A to Point B.
The major reason for the delays (if not the sole reason), is the no-show by those irresponsible men and hence, by running a story on how long it took Ms. Chetcuti to get from point A to point B is it only playing fiddle to these irresponsible persons.
I have no idea of what journalism is and never studied it, truth be told. However, it is my understanding of the situation that given that in Malta we desperately need to improve and promote private transport, any measures by a newspaper which is supposed to be “responsible” (unlike Maltatoday which is expected to be “irresponsible”) which seem to promote that the new public transport system is inefficient and slow, will defeat the general aim of using public transport.
Anyway, I digressed. I’m really, really angry about this public transport fiasco caused by irresponsible people. I just hope things settle down as soon as possible. I’m sick of driving in this heat, I just want to use the buses.
I am going shopping tomorrow.
I want the government to give me an analysis of my shopping needs.
If they want to pay for a report then I am happy to provide one, for a reasonable fee.
Oh who said satire is dead.
I want the government to measure my inside leg.
Great article.
Bravo.
If they do not want their jobs, I am sure others in Malta can be found to replace them.
It would make sense to employ African immigrants. I totally agree. From personal experience – we have two African immigrants in our company – they are punctual, polite, disciplined and respectful. They have been with us for two years now and have become an integral part of our company.
The problem is, or so it seems, that Arriva are bound by contract to employ Maltese-speaking drivers.
Therefore it is the government which must waive this clause.
Then again I must say ‘chapeau’ to Austin Gatt (government) and also the GWU (very very strange, I am still lost for words) for their firm backing of Arriva thus disowning these 60 anarchists!
Some votes may be lost but I am sure in the long run it will pay off to distance oneself from these scum bags!
Why ‘chapeau’ to the GWU? In an interview to One News this evening, Tony Zarb stated that these drivers should not be sacked by Arriva, even though the union was originally against the idea of drivers not turning up for work.
Austin Gatt is a very happy man. He’s been told he can keep the treats after retiring – no questions asked.
We seem to be going down the route of min wage / very close to min wage take it or leave it attitude ‘cos’ cheap labour is available .
Yes some are /were uncouth and bloody awful . Let us hope that decent wages and working conditions prevail for those that stick it out . The occasional split shift should not be a big deal yet a constant split shift is de- humanising , or are we now game for sweatshops in public transport .
Says who?
The split shift is for the first 3 weeks of service. Get your facts right before posting guys!
It seems that the split shift was part and parcel of the Arriva plan for operations in Malta , end of last week they had problems with drivers over the shift system and the GWU intervened .
There is a deeper problem creeping in , private sector employees are ending up worse off than public sector workers .
As far as I understood it is not a ‘constant’ split shift, but is meant to last only until the end of July. Apart from that they are being paid an additional 35 Euros daily for those four hours between shifts.
The split shift appears to have been needed as a stop gap until they had enough trained drivers. The loss of the 60 odd drivers (if it can be called a loss) may indeed create a situation where the split shift will need to be extended further than originally intended.
A split shift is not a ‘sweatshop’, particularly not when you’re paid for the idle hours between shifts. Shop assistants are not paid for the hours between morning and afternoon closing times.
I think this presents an excellent opportunity to gift 60 African immigrants stable jobs and self respect. It’s the best idea ever. From what I see and hear around me, many of the Africa immigrants have an uncanny knack of picking up Maltese with no difficulty.
Driving a 13 metre fully loaded bus up one and half lane alleys is a tad different to working in a shop . Has anybody checked the going rate for heavy goods vehicle operators .
Opportunity Knocks . You seem to want to start a riot . Bear in mind that a couple of years ago the medical profession protested when an Australian medical practitioner plied his trade in Malta , no body likes to move over so that somebody else can drink their well water , it is basic human nature .
When push comes to shove would you want an Illegal ( any colour will do ) to take your job .
[Daphne – If they’re working then they’re not ‘illegals’, Yor. The ‘illegals’ are imprisoned behind chain-link fencing, remember. And driving a bus is hardly rocket science. That’s why apes did it for so many years. Doing it and smiling at the same time – now that’s a different matter, I’ll agree. But even men can stretch to that low level of multi-tasking, I imagine.]
Many speak Maltese already.
It’s not ‘your’ job and it’s not ‘taken’ if it’s assigned to someone who will do it if you won’t.
As to the matter of being replaced, it matters little where the replacement comes from. I doubt any of the drivers kicking up such a fuss would step back and say ‘oh, ok, all right then’ if they’re replaced by someone Maltese.
Dawn ic-corma ta’ nies lanqas imisshom hallewhom jithlu go gabina ta’ bus gdida ghax dawn xi maqjel jixirqilhom. Anzi l-Arriva damu biex jahsbuha. Dawn jafu li zmien il-kummiedji u ic-cucati spicca?
€35 for a split shift is not bad at all when considering that:
– all employees in shops technically work with split shifts (usually 9-12.30 / 4.30 – 7)
– this “inconvenience” is just for a few weeks
– employees in start-ups normally work inhuman hours for the first few weeks, just to ensure that things get rolling properly
[Daphne – 35 euros is the daily bonus, not the daily wage.]
Exactly. Very few employees (at least in the private sector) get a bonus for similar “inconveniences”.
Because of the reason for which they lost their job, the sacked drivers won’t even be able to register for work.
They could try working instead.
Jien inhammar wicci meta nahseb x`setghu qalu bejniethom il-kbarat ta` l-Arriva.
Nahseb qatt ma marru pajjiz tad-dahq bhal-dan, zgur. U qatt ma ghamluha ma’ nies ta’ dil-kwalita`. Nammetti li ftit affarijiet setghu gew evitati, imma, u ejja, li drivers MALTIN joholqu daqs dan inkonvenjent ghal huthom Maltin, veru tal-misthijja.
Nixtieq naf x`hadu b`daqsekk. Wisq nibza (u naqbel perfettament ma Harry Purdie), li ma jdumx ma jibda il vandalizmu issa. Il-veru min jibqa jinsisti li jaghmel affarijiet godda u jinvesti, hawn Malta, biex il-pajjiz jimxi il quddiem, ghalijja veru bahnan.
Ghax hlief bsaten fir-roti ma ssibx. Hafna minnha esperti biex nitfghu il-gebel fuq saqajna.
Pat, il-kbarat ta l-Arriva jghidu bejnietom liz-zeta jridu. Jihmarilhom wicchom ghandhom tal-Arriva ghax it-ticketing machines u l-kompjuters m’humiex jahdmu sew wara erbat ijiem.
Nahseb tal-Arriva hasbu li din in-naqra ta’ gzira se tkun tahmil tas-snien, imma marru zmerc.
Ghandek kumpless t’inferjorita qawwi post kolonjali.Mid-dehra qatt ma rajt picket line.
Il-vandalizmu u l-cowboys issibhom kullimkien , anke f’dawk il-pajjizi ikkunsidrati bhala “civilizzati”.
Thank you, Daphne. This is precisely what the majority of Maltese think.
Anthony Farrugia – do not be too sure about the GWU. Admittedly they did their bit – albeit very feebly I thought – but still they did it however, without success it seems as they still ignored the GWU instructions.
I am sorry to say that I do not trust the GWU as long as they continue being a PL partner. Now one of these bus drivers comes out to say that if the split shift system is done away with he will accept the job. I would tell him ‘thanks but no thanks’.
HALLELUJA………. No more spoilt thugs driving around in the streets in their buses. I used to consider myself unlucky to get caught driving behind a bus belching noxious fumes and a driver who thought the roads belonged to him.
I must tell you about how happy I was when my boys used to call me to pick them up when the bus decided not to show up.
I must tell you how proud I was when a group of elderly tourists boarded a bus, cheerful and happy, only to have abuse belched at them. The driver, amid the swearing, shoved his bus into gear and took off whilst still swearing and handling tickets and money.
One woman steadied herself by grabbing at the string that pulls the bell. The thug at the wheel ripped the bell out and smacked the last elderly man on the forehead…. which resulted in a 4cm gash and bleeding. His wife panicked and there was chaos. All the Maltese passengers protested loudly but the driver kept going while swearing.
I went to Valletta with the injured man, got him an ambulance and reported the driver immediately, but nothing happened.
The whole system was a shambles.
I am glad they are history.
Yes, please, do employ the African migrants. From my experience of them in other fields of employment, they are courteous, polite and very much ready to work, desperate to work really.
And I am SOOOOO glad that these 60 drivers will be fired. I’m sick of them, as is all the country.
Good luck, Arriva. I want to be your regular customer.
The drivers walking out at the last minute had nothing to do with this split-shift nonsense. The split-shift was just an excuse.
They had been planning to do this for weeks out of pure spite.
Spending a few hours at Floriana and doing just a bit of the old “ear to the ground” thing would have made this clear to anybody.
Besides, if it weren’t as I say, why would the drivers not have accepted the GWU’s re-negotiated agreement to remove split-shifts within the month? Obviously they were not interested in “keeping their job”.
Just one other thing which is driving me up the wall. You hear so many people saying that we’re in a crisis, that nothing is moving in Malta, that we have nothing here, that there’s a lot of “tahwid” and that we’re going from bad to worse.
Then I go out, I go to shopping centres, restaurants, even at lunch time, beauty parlours, hairdressers – everywhere is bursting at the seams with people. I tried getting a manicure done about two weeks ago and I needed it urgently (within a week). Believe me, it was like asking for uranium.
Getting a pedicure was out of the question.
Try getting a table at a good restaurant between Thursday and Sunday, or try getting a table at lunchtime in Valletta in decent (not even good) eateries.
Wouldn’t eating out and trips to the beauty parlours the first thing to fly out of the window if one is hard-up? People complain about electricity bills but then these same people (and I have individuals in mind) think nothing of spending 30 euros on gel refills every two weeks or changing their smartphone every other month.
When I compare Malta to other states, I really believe we live in either some sort of bubble about to explode or else in nothing less than economic “paradise”. I may sound hyperbolic but when I reflect on things, I always think that we really have nothing to complain about.
The irony of it all is that somebody was complaining to me about how everything “sejjer hazin u li dal-gvern qeridna” whilst we were sitting in a restaurant, having quite an expensive lunch to celebrate a birthday.
The irony of this is that whilst the complainant was complaining, she was eating a lobster, literally. It looked like one of those “Wizard of Id” cartoons.
Anyway, enough said. But, then again, I might be blinded by my liking for the PN. But then, again, unemployment figures and economic figures do not lie.
I really don’t know.
WELL SAID BUBU –
Lomax, you seem to be suggesting that there are profits in the business of pedicure. But don’t say that too loud – you might find one of those sacked bus drivers doing your pedicure next time…
I think beauty parlours are good business. Try getting an appointment at short notice. Joking apart, when I was hard up, after finishing university and trying to do something for myself, I didn’t even know what a pedicure was.
As regards bus drivers and pedicures, well as long as they do them well, I really don’t mind.
The Times today: “Arriva battles delays, driver threatens photographer, minister refuses questions” From recent articles when The Times gets directly involved it makes the subject its battle field Arriva is going to be one of them from here on.
How ironic!
When some months ago The Times moved the relatively much simpler task of printing from Valletta to Mriehel, for a good number of days the newspaper was always late – no timely explanations were given.
More recently fewer explanations were given when they started publishing that useless TV guide, which apart from a number of gross mistakes, inflated the price of the Saturday edition to 1 Euro.
But then they expect Arriva to be perfect from day 1.
Giovanni, you are right. Before Arriva, timesofmalta.com unleashed its wrath against Snoop Dogg for his no-show.
Their reporter waited for about 6 hours only to be called “nigga” as soon as he opened his mouth, and was also escorted out of the room.
Taking a hint from Snoop Dogg, the old bus drivers tried the “no-show” card on Sunday, but this time, timesofmalta.com opened fire on Arriva.
Ma how dramatic everyone is.
“behaving as though they are accountable to nobody”: I suppose that the rogue bus drivers got their attitude from some of our politicians whose expiry date is long overdue. Indeed, these 60 or so bus drivers should be fired, but so should the minister in charge of transport.
I think your suggestion of getting African immigrants to drive some of our buses is very good. I have seen these Africans work diligently, doing menial jobs but always polite, despite all the abuse and humiliation hurled at them by homegrown rogues who are comforted by the myth that they are Christian and European, hence superior.
These Africans would give the Maltese a lesson on civility and manners, but naturally our prejuduce will never permit dark skinned people to work for us.
According to The Malta Independent Arriva actually pays the drivers only €170 per week – a pittance.
“He (the driver) said they have a salary of about €170 a week, and there was no mention of split shifts in their contracts and they were meant to work for about 40 hours a week.”
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=128220
[Daphne – There is no way they are paid 170 euros a week. To give you some idea of how impossible this is, it’s the equivalent of around Lm290 a month. They wouldn’t even have had APPLICANTS for the job at that rate of pay. I wouldn’t have got the salary facts from the driver, a dubious source, but from Arriva and an actual contract. But even if they were paid that pittance, the point is this: they took the job. They signed up for it. Nobody forced them to do it. You don’t accept a job and then object to the pay on the first day at work. Just don’t take the job in the first place.]
The split shifts amount to 40 hours a week. The mistake the drivers make – and everyone else who quotes them unquestioningly – is that they count their working day from the start of the first shift, to the end of the second one, without excluding the long hours in between shifts when they are paid but are not required to work at all.
The daily bonus for a split shift is EUR35 – an average of EUR8.75 per hour for the four hour break between their two four-hour shifts.
Daphne taf kemm hawn eluf ta haddiema ghax il-boss taghhom jaf li ma jistax jaghmlu mod iehor …ma jtijhomx li haqqhom , jew li jkunu ftemu dwaru…. taf x jidlek ..taf fejnu il-bieb…ma nafx kif qed issemi 50 …u mhux issemi eluf li jkollom ibbaxxu rashom ghal kollox…xi ftejjiem…my foot…jekk ftemu magghom mod u wara dawru kolox..sewwa ghamlu…tajjeb kieku kullhadd jista jaghmel hekk….imma mhux kullhadd jista !
[Daphne – If you’re not paid the agreed amount, there’s the law. If you agreed to the amount and now you don’t like it, it’s your problem. If you think you deserve a raise and don’t get it, move on elsewhere. If you can’t get more money elsewhere, then that tells you you’re being paid exactly what you’re worth where you are. Market forces apply in the labour market too.]
Look at the following:
“We should not be driving for more than four hours at a stretch. You’ve got to be thinking all the time, and driving a bendy bus means that I could be responsible for 149 passengers when it’s full.”
and:
“He said they have a salary of about €170 a week, and there was no mention of split shifts in their contracts and they were meant to work for about 40 hours a week.”
How on earth can you limit your work to four hour shifts, work 40 hours a week and not have split shifts. Do these people have special ten-day weeks?
It reminds me of the British miners and how they held the country to ransom almost every Christmas – until Margaret Thatcher arrived. If it is true that the new roster was agreed with their union, they are undisputedly at fault.
Uffa, kemm se ngergru fuq il-pagi u fuq it-35 Euros. Issa fit-2013, ikollna lil Joseph Muscat bhala PrimMinistru u dawn il-bus drivers jibdew jaqalghu il-lifink wejc u jsiru tal-mittil klass.
U l-kumpanija tbiddel isimha ghal Arriviste.
Excellent one, Baxxter!
For the time being, it is more likely to change its name to Arrivederci.
Unbelievable!
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110705/blogs/dead-on-arriva.374022
Read Tania Cilia’s replies to comments as well.
Dan x’tahwid hu?
Aqra dan ir-rapport fuq Maltastar: Valid reasons for drivers’ protest, GWU
http://www.maltastar.com/pages/r1/ms10dart.asp?a=15994
Mela l-ftehim mhux l-istess GWU ghamlitu? Jew issa rega bdielha?
Daphne tista tfehmna int?
On something completely different:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110706/local/three-boys.374192
“Maria Vassallo
Yesterday, 18:23
But what reactions do you expect from boys in front of scantily dressed girls walking by down the streets?
And more to come!
We will be hearing more news about individual and group rapes, murder etc!
That is the way stupid girls want it and that is the way they will eventually and in practice have it.”
By her standards, if a guy gets off by women dressed at nuns, then it’s the nuns fault if they get raped.
Arriva should seek damages from those drivers who did not turn up for work for (1) the salary paid during training (2) the cost of training (3) the cost incurred by Arriva to fix the damage including the costs of the drivers brought over from England (4) the cost of the free bus journeys given by Arriva in its first day or two (5) the damage done to its reputation.
The issue is not one of money. It is one of principle.
When people act irresponsibly and cause extensive inconvenience to so many people, they should be made to pay for it.
Do not forget. These were the same people who some years back, during a strike, illegally tried to block access to the airport, our vital connection to the outside world. Had they succeeded the damage to tourism would have been astronomical.
to my knowledge there are immigrants who have been recruited with Arriva
All well and good, Daphne but, from what I can see from a considerable distance, the changeover to Arriva has been a complete and utter cock up and Austin ‘conscience’ Gatt was the man who should have made sure it wasn’t. He failed miserably, despite having lots of time and money to get it right. Once again, the taxpayer gets a poor return for his taxes.
If Austin’s reading this, I’d just like to tell him that I confidently predict the current sytem will have to be radically revamped within a year or it’ll fail completely. Unless the system incorporates a hub and spoke system, with at least two and preferably four hubs, it will never work.
If he’d like me to sort out the problems, I’ll gladly do so, and set up a system that will be efficient, effective and popular, within 6 months of being given the go ahead, providing I get the resources – a team of perhaps 15 assistants, plus the infrastructural changes needed would need to be fast-tracked. All I ask is a reasonable salary (€4000/month plus the usual perks) whilst designing the system and then a performance bonus related to volumes of passengers/profits after the system has been set up (and no salary). I’ll be quite happy to take the risk because I’m convinced I’ll succeed.
Tim, you will not succeed, either.
In my humble view, what is needed in Malta’s public transport is a change in the mentality of the entire nation, and then, as a consequence, a change in the mentality of the drivers, their managers, and commuters etc.
The success of a system like that being introduced by Arriva depends on discipline. They are running a system which depends on time management, punctuality, and coincidence at interchanges. In the meantime, the drivers face all sort of commuters and the other drivers on the road – and we know what driving in Malta is like.
Arriva have all odds against them. The former bus drivers. The media. The commentators on the media. The weather. Their contract commitments.
But the worst enemy they have is the declining work ethic and the “Maltese gemgem.”
The worst that can happen to them – and, judging from the latest news, it may be happening, apparently – is a collapse of morale of their workforce. So I hope they are able to manage that.
My judgement is that what is happening now was bound to happen. Given the service went on as a big bang, there was never an opportunity for Arriva to test in real time the time necessary for the operation of each of their routes.
That time depends on many factors: traffic on the route, bottlenecks, time of day, volume of passengers on different bus stops, speed of drive, etc. This will need to be formalised from experience, and since routes have changed, one cannot use the old service as the standard.
Since the integrated model of transport depends on coincidences at interchanges, the above factor is very critical for the network. I believe this will ease with time.
But even in the most advanced countries of the world, this is never managed 100%. What will be achieved is that schedules will be modified after some time to reflect reality, and then it will seem that the transport is on time. But that is an iterative process.
The abandonment by some of their drivers is very unprofessional. Even if it was a matter of pay, I believe they should have supported their employer at this time and demand their return some months down the line. But then, if they are unfit for this work, it is better that they leave now, rather than being forced to do so in another 30 years time!
You are mumbling apologies for a private company that is ignoring her one and only function – to serve her client .
Hey Ciccio. I enjoy and look forward to your comments on Daphne’s blog. This one is as thoughtful as the others.
I live and alternate between two countries, Malta and Switzerland, and no greater contrast could be imagined. Discipline, orderliness, punctuality in one, the opposite in the other. Guess which one I love.
The town in which I live in Switzerland is called Fribourg. It has a population of around 80,000 and the transportation system is immaculate. Everything works as it should. All customers are content and expect the perfection.
Arriva is, in Malta, contending with a totally different culture and mentality–a resistance to change. Progress here is slow. However, over the last 15 years I have witnessed incredible change, mostly accomplished by the party in power. It takes time, but does move on.
I feel that Arriva raised the expectations of the Maltese far above what could be expected, partly due to their own incompetence and, also, by not understanding the Maltese culture. Given time, all will improve.
If you haven’t guessed which country I love most, it’s the Rock. Switzerland is great. But, when everything ‘works’, it can get boring. Malta is much more fun. The chaos invigorates.
Harry, thanks for your positive comments. I happen to know Switzerland a bit, although I do not think I have been to Friburg. How can we ever be so organised?
I am glad that you love the Switzerland of the Mediterranean. Maybe one day, the Swiss would want to become Malta of the Alps.
Ciccio, Fribourg is situated in the French speaking Suisse Romande part of Switzerland. Beautiful place in the Prealpes.
I have had many Swiss relatives and friends visit me in Malta. They truly enjoy it–for about a week. They come to enjoy the sea and sun and the laughs, since they are guaranteed at least one a day, due to the many little mishaps that occur. Then they have to retreat to their orderliness.
Pertaining to ‘Malta in the Alps’, I have been in some very isolated little villages in the valleys of the Alps where everyone looks the same. Guess why. (reminded me of the film ‘Deliverance’.) They make Malta look like a sophisticated urban centre. At least, in Malta, the gene pool can be refreshed with expats.
Yes but then again, Purdie, they probably all look like Heidi’s granpa, not like – ahem – Lebanese nightclub bouncers.
Sorry to open the genetic wound once more, but hey, it is Monday morning, work is slow, and I see a seething mass of ugly humanity from where I’m sitting.
Harry, those secluded ones in the Alpine valleys, in Maltese we call them “ta’ wara l-Muntanji.” You’d be surprised, but you’ll find many of them in Malta too, even though we have no Alpine territory. In Malta, their only contact with the outside world is Facebook…
Baxxter, you are a very sophisticated rabble rouser.
Ciccio, you gotta show me , then I’ll show you my valleys. Then we compare. Bet I win.
Before Arriva started, I visited their website and checked how I can go to Sliema, where I work. I use my car but as it is a nightmare to park there and also as I would like to reduce my carbon print, I planned to use the bus.
It turned out that even when this saga and the teething troubles are over, it would not be different at all from before. Also commuters are saying that the the journey from A to B before has lengthened in time and distance and not by a little either.
I do not like to grumble. I really would like the system to work and make people want to change their lifestyle, for the environment, having less traffic etc. but like me most are going to stick to their car.
We were promised a better deal, a revolution. And other thing, I did not like it as soon as I heard that the state will be paying less subsidies. Other cities subsidise heavily their public transport to entice people to use it. Still maybe in the end things will be planned and changed after expierences.
…and the saga continues, with more drivers today failing to report for work…
I don’t think we’ve seen this sort of thing before, with workers protesting about working conditions before they’ve actually experienced them.
Having just returned to the UK after my first visit to Malta I feel compelled to comment on the on-going situation regarding the new era of bus travel on your small island. In the lead-up to the changeover I found that the old system was interesting, quaint and totally unfit for purpose.
Very few of the buses that I travelled on would have been allowed to operate in service in any other part of the EU and the total lack of timetables and reliabilty made it very difficult to travel anywhere with any certainty.
I had hoped that things would improve when Arriva took over but for several reasons things only got worse on Sunday.
Without doubt, the decision by many drivers – most of whom were former owner/drivers – not to turn up for work was the main reason why chaos has followed. From what I have read the image and reputation of these owner/drivers has never been good. With this in mind, perhaps the Arriva management should have made contingency plans for what actually occurred.
However, the Maltese people should be reassured that Arriva is a professional operator and that things will get better. The fact that Arriva has been willing and able to fly in drivers, engineers and managers from across Europe to help resolve the current situation proves that is determined to succeeed.
In a few months time, Malta will be proud of its 21st century bus operation and be thankful that the old system was consigned to the history books.
Sorry to burst everyone’s bubble, but Arriva is so 20th century. 21st century would be a levitating solar-powered monorail.
But as Daphne teaches us, for small mercies…
You make progress sound like a hangover from the hippie era. What next? Levitating the Pentagon? That didn’t work the first time around, despite the copious amount of LSD.
– Well, sir, there’s nothing on earth
Like a genuine,
Bona fide,
Electrified,
Six-car
Monorail!
What’d I say?
– Monorail!
…
– I hear those things are awfully loud…
– It glides as softly as a cloud.
– Is there a chance the track could bend?
– Not on your life, my Hindu friend.
– What about us brain-dead slobs?
– You’ll be given cushy jobs.
– Were you sent here by the devil?
– No, good sir, I’m on the level.
– The ring came off my pudding can.
– Take my pen knife, my good man.
– I swear it’s Springfield’s only choice…
Throw up your hands and raise your voice!
etc…
From Marge vs The Monorail, The Simpsons
– Well, sir, there’s nothing on earth
Like a genuine,
Bona fide,
Electrified,
Six-car
Monorail!
What’d I say?
– Monorail!
…
– I hear those things are awfully loud…
– It glides as softly as a cloud.
– Is there a chance the track could bend?
– Not on your life, my Hindu friend.
– What about us brain-dead slobs?
– You’ll be given cushy jobs.
– Were you sent here by the devil?
– No, good sir, I’m on the level.
– The ring came off my pudding can.
– Take my pen knife, my good man.
– I swear it’s Springfield’s only choice…
Throw up your hands and raise your voice!
etc…
From Marge vs The Monorail, The Simpsons
Would the demi-gods at Arriva please assure us that rumours about a 4-million-euro commission are completely unfounded?
I visited the islands more then 20 times between 1986 and 2006 and had no complains of the old bus system. In almost all companies you will find a few rotten apples and that is expected to happen with Arriva as well. In fact the old buses were a tourist attraction in itself. Your currency is gone now the old buses next will be Air Malta.Why are you sacrificing your country on the altar of the EU?