Bus drivers, conductors to get fixed pay

MANILA, Philippines—Drivers and conductors of public utility buses (PUB) should now be paid fixed salaries following an order by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) abolishing the commission system for such workers.

The LTFRB in a memorandum order approved on Jan. 3 said bus company owners should start paying their employees above the minimum wage.

The new rule is in line with efforts to provide better service to the public by improving the working conditions of public utility vehicle employees.

“We have been discussing this with operators for several months. They should be ready to implement this by now,” LTFRB board member Manuel Iway said in an interview over the weekend.

New rules

Under the LTFRB’s new rules, drivers and conductors should not be allowed to work more than eight hours every day to ensure that they are well-rested while on the job. Their salaries should also be “above minimum wage,” the regulator said.

And like all employees in other industries, bus drivers and conductors should now be entitled to a 13th-month bonus.

These moves are expected to cut the number of bus accidents in the country.

Iway said the abolition of the commission system would also eliminate competition among drivers for passengers, which usually results in reckless road behavior.

Compliance reports

Bus companies were given six months to submit compliance reports to the LTFRB that should include a list of the company’s payroll and how much each employee is getting paid.

Companies that fail to submit these reports face the cancellation of their franchise, Iway said.

Serious discussions involving agencies such as the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the Department of Labor and Employment on the implementation of fixed salaries had been going on since the middle of last year.

In Congress, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño’s House Bill No. 3370 also aims to give the policy a more solid legal foundation by making it a law.

The measure was filed after veteran journalist and University of the Philippines professor Lourdes “Chit” Estella Simbulan was killed in a mishap between the taxi she was in and a speeding bus on Commonwealth Avenue, in Quezon City, also known as the “killer highway.” –Paolo G. Montecillo, Philippine Daily Inquirer