Rant
So I was at 6.29 at my bus stop to catch the shuttle that takes us down to the train station to go to work. One woman comes and say "no buses are running now because workers are in Assembly to decide what to do with their strike". I have walked 35 minutes to the train station, thankfully with mild fresh morning weather.
Due to historical reasons, my town has always been served with a private bus company called Mohn, instead of Barcelona's public TMB. Although now it's seamless for users because transport tickets (and related taxes) are the same for all modes of transport in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, Mohn has always been quite a bad company with quite bad service. We absolutely depend on that damned company to move around. The train station is just too far away. We need a damned subway line for which there is no money.
This time I was forewarned. Bus drivers are on strike and they're right. They're working overtime hours because it's cheaper for Mohn to pay overtime than hire new drivers. I have been on two bus accidents because the driver was tired. Mohn pays very low salaries and offers incentives for drivers to work overtime. Another very important complain is that they don't keep the mandatory 12-hour rest between shifts. One of the drivers who went with me to school had to do a noon service after finishing the night service at 4.30 am. That's illegal and dangerous.
Yes, I'm left strandled with no bus. I have to walk more and mobilize my brother to pick me up after my work. But I think it's worthy if my security as a passenger is guaranteed by decent work conditions. And my experience shows that private companies don't offer good working conditions and try to steal anything they can from their workers. Public transport is too sensible to let it be run by corporate greed. This and my experience with English trains proves me that public transport should be kept in public hands.
Due to historical reasons, my town has always been served with a private bus company called Mohn, instead of Barcelona's public TMB. Although now it's seamless for users because transport tickets (and related taxes) are the same for all modes of transport in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, Mohn has always been quite a bad company with quite bad service. We absolutely depend on that damned company to move around. The train station is just too far away. We need a damned subway line for which there is no money.
This time I was forewarned. Bus drivers are on strike and they're right. They're working overtime hours because it's cheaper for Mohn to pay overtime than hire new drivers. I have been on two bus accidents because the driver was tired. Mohn pays very low salaries and offers incentives for drivers to work overtime. Another very important complain is that they don't keep the mandatory 12-hour rest between shifts. One of the drivers who went with me to school had to do a noon service after finishing the night service at 4.30 am. That's illegal and dangerous.
Yes, I'm left strandled with no bus. I have to walk more and mobilize my brother to pick me up after my work. But I think it's worthy if my security as a passenger is guaranteed by decent work conditions. And my experience shows that private companies don't offer good working conditions and try to steal anything they can from their workers. Public transport is too sensible to let it be run by corporate greed. This and my experience with English trains proves me that public transport should be kept in public hands.