And they're going on yet another strike!

Seemingly, a one-day strike wasn't enough. So this time they're going on a 3-day strike!! If you didn't read my previous post, then let me tell you what they're striking for: they don't want to get tickets. That's right. They want to keep on breaking the law and not pay the consequences of their wrongdoings.

It seems like the bus companies are now protesting along with some kind of group/association who's "mission" is to defend the rights of workers. Apparently these people, whoever they are or whoever they think they are, also feel that the police issuing tickets is an abuse. In other words, enforcing the law is an abuse. One of the bus companies will operate normally but that doesn't mean that it'll be safe to get on the bus (over 100 protestors were arrested last week) or that there will be enough transportation for the millions of people who take the famous combis and buses here.

In light of this situation, President Alan Garcia has promised to give some money to those drivers who decide to operate on July 7th, 8th and 9th. The whopping amount of money is (drumroll) 20 Soles!!!! Per day? Wrong! For all three days. At least the government is doing something to encourage bus drivers to go to work. In the end, if they don't go to work, they don't get paid. And it isn't like they make a lot of money. Driving for hours in a city like Lima, picking up passengers and dropping them off at pretty much every stop is quite stressful. President Alan Garcia has also announced that public employees will be allowed to come to work at least 2 hours late and private companies should allow their employees to also be 2 hours late due to the lack of transportation. It has also been said that employers could reimburse their employees the amount of money they spend to get to work (taxis and operating buses tend to overcharge). This is the employer's decision, notwithstanding.

The upshot of this whole thing is just chaos, mayhem, and a headache. I have friends who live quite a way from the office where we work and some of them can't get to work because of the strike and thus they don't get paid for the day. Not much will be accomplished by just going on a strike and I hope the police won't stop enforcing the law because of this. Now it's time to do one of the things I hate the most: shaving!