New pay scheme lauded, slammed

Despite an assurance from the government that the two-tier pay scheme would be to their benefit, bus drivers and conductors interviewed by the Inquirer Monday expressed their doubts about the new salary system.

“If this scheme was feasible, [operators] would have done this before,” a bus conductor said. “Is this a sustainable pay scheme?”

She and the other bus workers who talked to the Inquirer asked that their names as well as those of the companies they work for be kept anonymous for fear of being reprimanded by their superiors.

Dante (not his real name), 33, who has been driving a bus for 12 years, also said that the new scheme would not work if one were to look at it from a bus company owner’s viewpoint.

“If we were to follow traffic rules strictly, we would spend eight hours making just one round trip. We won’t make the quota but we will still get paid due to the fixed wage scheme,” he said.

“If this goes on, the company will surely go bankrupt,” Dante continued. “If that happens, what will the government do?  Will they hire us or bail the bus  companies out?” he asked.

Not all, however, were as pessimistic as Dante.

Another bus driver who gave his name as Romeo said that having a fixed income could help reduce the number of road accidents involving buses.

“It’s not like we want to race against each other but if I were to stay behind one bus the whole time, I would end up with just a few passengers. That is why some drivers try to get ahead of other buses, they want to pick up more passengers,” he explained.

He said that with the new pay system, it was nice to know that even on days when there were fewer passengers, he and his conductor would still earn enough to provide for their families.

Another bus driver, Roger, said that the labor department should deploy its monitors to check whether the rules of the new pay scheme were being strictly followed. Since quotas set by bus operators might not be met, there was a possibility that they would resort to finding a way to get around the law just to keep their business afloat, he added.