27 March 2011
Muscat: Bus drivers employed at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) went on strike yesterday demanding better pay and improvement in the working conditions.
The drivers, who are on the payrolls of Oman National Transport Company (ONTC), are making several demands, including parity with their colleagues who work at the airport as bus drivers for the same company but are getting higher wages. They have also demanded salary increment and extra allowances apart from reduction in their daily working hours.
They also want the ouster of some senior officials and changes in the top management in the company.
Following the strike, the university administration had to postpone some examinations as the students, especially those who live in Muscat, could not reach the campus due to lack of transport facilities.
Reports say that some drivers brought students to the university in the morning but they refused to take them back after their classes in the evening. This forced the students to hire taxis to drop them to their homes. Other students who live in the university campus had to walk back to their rooms.
The bus drivers are adamant over fulfilment of their demands and have decided to continue their protest till their demands are met.
Ahmed Al Balushi, an SQU student, who resides in Muscat, said that he was stranded in the university for hours till he got a taxi to drop him home. He supported the drivers' cause and said that the company should meet their demands, which will also put an end to the inconvenience to the students.
One of the bus drivers said that they worked for long hours without getting extra pay from the company.
Meanwhile, some school drivers in the wilayats of Sohar and Shinas too went on strike yesterday demanding an increase in their daily allowance, and their salaries should not be cut during formal vacations and signing of a contract which would fix their working hours.
This protest has forced many students in the wilayats to take a day of leave from their schools.
Muscat: Bus drivers employed at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) went on strike yesterday demanding better pay and improvement in the working conditions.
The drivers, who are on the payrolls of Oman National Transport Company (ONTC), are making several demands, including parity with their colleagues who work at the airport as bus drivers for the same company but are getting higher wages. They have also demanded salary increment and extra allowances apart from reduction in their daily working hours.
They also want the ouster of some senior officials and changes in the top management in the company.
Following the strike, the university administration had to postpone some examinations as the students, especially those who live in Muscat, could not reach the campus due to lack of transport facilities.
Reports say that some drivers brought students to the university in the morning but they refused to take them back after their classes in the evening. This forced the students to hire taxis to drop them to their homes. Other students who live in the university campus had to walk back to their rooms.
The bus drivers are adamant over fulfilment of their demands and have decided to continue their protest till their demands are met.
Ahmed Al Balushi, an SQU student, who resides in Muscat, said that he was stranded in the university for hours till he got a taxi to drop him home. He supported the drivers' cause and said that the company should meet their demands, which will also put an end to the inconvenience to the students.
One of the bus drivers said that they worked for long hours without getting extra pay from the company.
Meanwhile, some school drivers in the wilayats of Sohar and Shinas too went on strike yesterday demanding an increase in their daily allowance, and their salaries should not be cut during formal vacations and signing of a contract which would fix their working hours.
This protest has forced many students in the wilayats to take a day of leave from their schools.
© Times of Oman 2011
