Trade Union Left Forum offers it’s Solidarity & Support to the bus drivers of Arriva-Moravia Company, who went on strike this week December 19, 2020. We consider their demands fully legitimate and right. We agree with their trade unionists’ saying that the employer’s proposals make worse their both working and wage conditions. We fully agree with the fully logical and rightful claim that working hours to increase, moreover, to be coupled with the wage cuts, is totally unacceptable for the employees. We consider unacceptable, too, the Arriva-Moravia Company to transfer its economic losses onto its employees’ shoulders by both working hours increasing and wage cuts. The employees have their full and unalienable rights to be provided with fair payments for their work. Any and every wage cuts are unacceptable. With longer working weekly hours, there is a more security risk; that why neither in this case any compromise could be done.
Once again, we are seeing capitalists to blame the weight of external circumstances and their own shoddy economic policies entirely on the shoulders of their employees, even beyond the point of any acceptability, leading to impacts on living standards, personal lives, and personal and public safety. It is full liberalization of the public transport’s sector, with security and other consequences. It is impossible to withdraw from demands of the employers. We stand firmly on the side of Arriva-Moravia drivers, supporting their demands and offering them our solidarity and support.
We also offer our Solidarity & Support to the trade unionists of Transport Company of Ostrava City (DPO) who came into strike emergency on December 21, 2020.
We consider the reasons for the strike alert, namely the company’s failure to meet its agreed commitments, to be fully legitimate, as are the previous demands of trade unionists. As it has done many times before in the transport sector, the OS ČMS now adds its voice to the protest against the conditions under which the drivers work, against they to be overburdened and exposed to the safety risks that arise from such a company policy. We endorse trade unionists’ critical criticisms of working conditions, optimisation and security risks, and we call for unity of trade union action in which we offer our solidarity and support. You can’t give in to employers’ demands at the expense of workers!
Unity is strength!
