Bus Drivers Required to Make Shortfall Even if Robbed
Adding insult to injury is what some bus drivers are feeling according to Sindicato Costarricense de Trabajadores de Transporte (Sicotra) - the bus driver's union - who says that some bus companies demand that their drivers reimburse them all losses, even if the loss is a result from an attacks on the driver and the bus.

Some companies even demand that driver pay interest up to 30% on the loss.

Drivers say that when a driver is robbed, the company demands them to make up the difference, even though the robbery is reported to the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ).

The number of assaults against buses, the drivers and passengers is on the increase. In some cases, drivers have been killed when they refused to hand over the money.

For the year 2004 there were 103 attacks on bus drivers reported. This year, however, there has been at least one assault a day reported, according to the OIJ records.

The increase has prompted the drivers to demand better protection by the Ministerio de Seguridad Pública, especially for the early morning and evening hours.

Sicota says that many bus companies show no compassion towards their drivers and reduce their pay for any shortfall. Buses have an electronic bar that counts the number of fares generated on the run and drivers have to make up any difference between the bar readings and the cash collected.

Some drivers, according to the union, are constantly in the red and take home no pay. It is for this that the union is asking the Ministerio de Obras Pública y Transporte (MOPT) to set out a regulation that will give drivers the ability to verify what the electronic bars are counting.

Sicota says that babies, umbrellas, bags and other large objects are picked up by the electronic counter as a passenger, to the detriment of the driver, which in many cases work up to 90 hours per week and for little pay.