Intra-urban transportation:Tic Le Bus hit the roads again

The industrial action embarked upon by workers of the urban transport company in Yaounde was called off on Wednesday 26 March after a lengthy crisis meeting

By Mbeh Moses Eben in Yaounde

Le Bus is discredited for having very old, wornout buses

Workers of Tic Le Bus, the Yaounde-based intra-urban transport company have resumed work after nine days of strike. They called off the strike on Wednesday, 26 March following a tripartite crisis meeting that brought on the negotiating table workers’ delegates, authorities of Le Bus and the regional delegate for labour and social security for the centre region, Benjamin Tsoung, who presided over the meeting.

                “The workers’ delegates have resolved to call-off the strike and for work to resume beginning Thursday 27 March 2014, to restore the company’s credibility vis-à-vis its bankers and the state,” read a statement issued after the meeting and signed by all the parties to the negotiation.

                The workers (management staff not inclusive) were promised 50% of their February salaries with immediate effect, while negotiations would be intensified with the company’s bankers for the payment of the salaries for March, the statement said further. It added that no workers would be sanctioned as a result of the strike.

                But at the time of going to press on Saturday night, we learnt that 4 senior staffs of the company had been suspended from their duty posts. The decision was reportedly taken by the director of finance of Le Bus, Anjoh Mboe Samuel, whom the GM Lal Karsanbhai Surendra (presently out of the country for health imperatives) delegated powers to manage the company in his absence. The workers concerned included the director of Human resources, Guessom Noumsi, the head internal audit, Findi Cyrille, the purchasing manager, Sani Joseph and the private secretary to the GM.

                It should be noted that the chairman of the board of directors of Le Bus, Gilbert Ntsimi Evouna, is yet to make any statement be it to the press or to workers of the company, ever since the crisis broke out. It is believed in some circles that Ntsimi Evouna has no interest in the company and would not mind if the company collapsed. The Median learnt surprisingly, that since becoming board chairman of Tic Le Bus several years ago, Tsimi Evouna has not convened even one board meeting.

     Workers of Le Bus embarked on an industrial action on 17 March demanding that the following conditions should be met before work could resume: That their salary for the month of February should be paid with immediate effect; that the totality of their family allowances be paid and that the GM should be sacked with immediate effect.

    The workers faulted the GM of mismanaging the subventions paid the company by government over the last several years. They totaled the money mismanaged to over 12 billion.