The General Transport Union has expressed disappointment and is threatening a sit down strike next month if the government fails to consider and implement six of their transport sector demands.
The Executive and representatives of the General Transport Union, commonly referred to as the Gambia Transport Union (GTU), from all the regions are here seeking a positive response to address their longstanding demands and concerns. They have expressed dissatisfactions and disappointment over government’s handling of the transport sector.
The President of the Union, Omar Ceesay in a statement, is critical of government’s alleged failure to consider their report of findings and recommendations, which the union had submitted to the President, ministries, and other stakeholders in March this year. We have issued our report to gov’t, but it is very sad that we mobilised our resources to tour the country, bringing our collective ideas and suggestions about the transport sector but the government is not willing to consider any.
The report highlighted various concerns about the transport sector with recommendations and 12 demands for government to consider and solve. Having waited for several months with no sign of government’s willingness to intervene, the union has streamlined the 12 demands in the report to the 6 concerns it deems in need of urgent government action.
The demands include that government allocate drivers garages, estimated increment of transport fare between 25 and 30%, a reduction of the toll fee for the Senegambia Bridge, introduction of a queuing system for transit goods at the port and relieving restrictions on passenger vehicles at borders. This is why we wrote to gov’t on the 10th of August, highlighting our demands we want addressed. if government does not meet the demands, i hereby state that we will declare a sit-down strike on September 13th until our demands are met.
The president of the Union has stressed that they are not ready to compromise on any of the demands, as these all relate to addressing transport sector-related.
A sit-down strike will have serious consequences, if a compromise is not brokered.
BY Biram S Jobe
The Executive and representatives of the General Transport Union, commonly referred to as the Gambia Transport Union (GTU), from all the regions are here seeking a positive response to address their longstanding demands and concerns. They have expressed dissatisfactions and disappointment over government’s handling of the transport sector.
The President of the Union, Omar Ceesay in a statement, is critical of government’s alleged failure to consider their report of findings and recommendations, which the union had submitted to the President, ministries, and other stakeholders in March this year. We have issued our report to gov’t, but it is very sad that we mobilised our resources to tour the country, bringing our collective ideas and suggestions about the transport sector but the government is not willing to consider any.
The report highlighted various concerns about the transport sector with recommendations and 12 demands for government to consider and solve. Having waited for several months with no sign of government’s willingness to intervene, the union has streamlined the 12 demands in the report to the 6 concerns it deems in need of urgent government action.
The demands include that government allocate drivers garages, estimated increment of transport fare between 25 and 30%, a reduction of the toll fee for the Senegambia Bridge, introduction of a queuing system for transit goods at the port and relieving restrictions on passenger vehicles at borders. This is why we wrote to gov’t on the 10th of August, highlighting our demands we want addressed. if government does not meet the demands, i hereby state that we will declare a sit-down strike on September 13th until our demands are met.
The president of the Union has stressed that they are not ready to compromise on any of the demands, as these all relate to addressing transport sector-related.
A sit-down strike will have serious consequences, if a compromise is not brokered.
BY Biram S Jobe