Driver reluctant to join bus strike<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A few days after the recent strike by bus
\ndrivers, Yusuf, 39, plying a route which begins in Tanah Abang,
\nreflects: \"I'm too old for this.\"<\/p>\n
He was reluctant to strike but, as an elderly local Betawi who
\nother drivers look up to, felt it would not look right if he did
\nnot join the strike.<\/p>\n
Though he understood why his fellow bus drivers marched to the
\nHouse of Representatives, he did not march with them.<\/p>\n
\"Where else would drivers go to complain?\" he asked.<\/p>\n
He personally disagreed with the strike, which was triggered
\nby a new bus company being assigned an overlapping route.<\/p>\n
The new company's route was the last straw for drivers who
\nhave had to deal with more and more buses on their route.<\/p>\n
But Yusuf said the problem was still bearable.<\/p>\n
\"I have been driving here a long time compared to the others.<\/p>\n
\"I know that with new buses our earnings have to be divided
\nbut there are still lots of passengers,\" he said.<\/p>\n
What's important, he said, is that drivers have told
\nlegislators of their problems.<\/p>\n
\"Surely they'll do something about it?\"<\/p>\n
If the problem is not settled, he said, there is nothing the
\ndrivers could do.<\/p>\n
Those who joined the strike, he noted, were mostly young.<\/p>\n
\"Young, hot-blooded people usually use their emotions rather
\nthan their brains,\" he said.<\/p>\n
For Yusuf, \"Working like this is my fate. I'll go on even
\nthough there are getting to be less passengers because driving is
\nall I can do ... I'm too small to apply for a job as a security
\nguard.<\/p>\n
\"But what if passengers run away when congestion gets worse?\"<\/p>\n
Since the early 1980s, he said, the narrow roads from Tanah
\nAbang leading to Kebayoran Lama have become increasingly full.<\/p>\n
Traders, employees, house industry workers and students in the
\narea who depend on minivans for transportation are a source of
\noptimism for drivers.<\/p>\n
But motorcycle taxi (ojek) drivers stand ready to wind through
\nalleys for those who have extra money and no time to spare for
\ntraffic jams.<\/p>\n
If more minivans are added to the route, Yusuf predicts a day
\nwhen passengers will leave what bus owners consider a \"fat
\nroute\".<\/p>\n
Drivers were angered because despite the added competition, it
\nis up to them alone to make sure they pay their daily rental.<\/p>\n
Yusuf now pays Rp 29,000 daily to the bus owner, and takes
\nhome at least Rp 20,000.<\/p>\n
If he fails to collect enough in fares he can pay the owner
\nthe next day.<\/p>\n
\"But I always try to deliver because if I don't I have to
\nborrow money to pay him, or use money I have saved for my
\nchildren's education,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Given all the fees to be paid, Yusuf must earn Rp 60,000 to Rp
\n100,000 a day.<\/p>\n
There is a daily fee of Rp 3,000 to pass the Tanah Abang
\nmarket and another Rp 2,000 to pass through Kebon Jeruk. These
\nare official fees. There are unofficial fees to be paid every
\ntime a bus enters a terminal.<\/p>\n
The extra fees can amount to a great deal for the drivers.<\/p>\n
There are the extra payments to thugs, he says, who expect
\nfavors for directing them around U-turns or merely when they want
\na cigarette.<\/p>\n
\"They're mostly drunk so I wouldn't dare challenge them,
\nthey'd hit me.<\/p>\n
\"We also have to pay other fees to officers,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A friend of his tried to add them up and came up with Rp 8,000
\na day.<\/p>\n
If a driver is less acquainted with officials and police it
\nmeans paying more, especially if one stops near one of the many
\nNo Stopping or No Parking signs along their route.<\/p>\n
But trusting authorities to deal with the problem, Yusuf says
\nhe will just keep working \"until I've saved enough for my
\nchildren's schooling and more capital for our business\" at
\nPalmerah market.<\/p>\n
His wife earns an average Rp 50,000 a day selling cigarettes,
\nsoft drinks and other items at the market.<\/p>\n
Yusuf dreams of having a stall in a tent for his wife instead
\nof a mere small bench. \"We would have more profit with a larger
\nbusiness,\" Yusuf said.<\/p>\n
He would no longer have to worry about chasing after daily
\nfares while passengers decrease. He said he was ready to face the
\nrisk of official and unofficial people preying on more stable
\nmarket vendors.<\/p>\n
\"Well I guess that's the way it should be,\" Yusuf said.
\n(12\/anr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/driver-reluctant-to-join-bus-strike-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}