Deputy Garnik Danielyan of the "Hayastan" faction writes:
"Today, together with my colleagues, we visited the striking drivers from the morning. What do drivers demand? Decent working conditions (from the availability of a bathroom to the payment of downtime). Salary increase.
No matter how much the authorities deny, the drivers insist that they were promised. In case of overtime work, compensation according to the law. It should also be noted that the drivers clean the buses at the expense of their salaries.
Instead of talking to these people and listening to their simple, human demands, the city authorities chose to take an illegal step, according to the latest information, they fired around 38 drivers. The drivers also reported that a certain Sukiasyan from the management of "Yerevan Bus" CJSC cursed them early in the morning for conducting a strike.
Being next to the drivers for hours, I demanded that the latter meet me and explain his actions. The doors of the company, however, were firmly closed to both complaining drivers and deputies. There are reports that some buses operated by striking drivers are being operated by persons without class D driver's license, endangering the health and lives of citizens.
There is already information that two of them had an accident.
In addition to all this, I should mention that we checked the tires of the parked buses.
Most of them were worn to the point where the thorns were visible. Yerevan Municipality is obliged to replace them with new winter tires without endangering the lives of passengers.
The drivers informed that they will continue the strike tomorrow.
I urge the city authorities to refrain from exerting any kind of pressure on these people while exercising their constitutional right."
