Metro bus drivers get big pay raise offer

Drivers of Panama’s new Metro buses have been offered a $100 increase to their proposed pay rate, bringing it to $580 a month.

The offer came Thursday (November 18) from the consortium Transporte Masivo de Panamá, which will be  operating the bus system.

The offer has not satisfied drivers, who are holding out for $700, or opponents who compare the pay rate to much lower pay for front line police officers,  or teachers and professionals who have had to go to college to  get an equivalent pay offer.
Dionisio Ortega, president of the National Chamber of Transport, said that the union will evaluate the offer.
A spokesperson said the wage increase will not affect the price of the Metro. He said that if the drivers receive the proposed salary, they must raise their levels of productivity.
With the discussions dragging on, there are more concerns about the proposed start date of the new system, with no prepaid card system in place, and no promised new bus stations or dedicated bus lanes on Minister of the Presidency Demetrius Papadimitriu said that he hopes the negotiations are handled quickly so the service can begin on time, on December 18.