[D66] [🇲🇽] CDMX bus drivers plan mega-march to demand fare hike

[A.OUT]

CDMX bus drivers plan mega-march to demand fare hike
By
mexiconewsdaily.com
2 min
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Residents in the capital are preparing for a day of traffic jams and 
difficult commutes due to a protest planned by the city’s fed-up bus 
drivers.

Members of the Mexico City public transit operators’ union, known as 
FAT, announced that they will carry out a mega-march on Wednesday to 
protest government inaction toward their request for a fare hike.

In a press conference held outside the Palace of Government on Monday, 
union members announced that they will begin Wednesday’s march at 7:00 
a.m. from four different points in the city.

Marches will make their ways to the zócalo from Metro La Raza in the 
north, Metro Puebla in the east, Metro General Anaya in the south and 
along Constituyentes Avenue beginning at the Dolores Cemetery in the west.

“We apologize in advance to the citizens of the capital, but we have no 
other recourse to make it understood that we are people of flesh and 
bone, not politicians,” said FAT spokesperson Nicolás Vázquez.

“Every day we carry a great economic burden in order to be able to 
provide service … and we’re on the brink of starvation due to the 
improvements we’ve made to the transportation system in recent years.”

Union members claim that the dialogues they have had with authorities 
have fallen on deaf ears and that the government won’t make efforts to 
resolve the problems they face.

They said that they’ve been unable to renovate the entire fleet of buses 
because the fare they’re allowed to charge is insufficient. They 
requested that it be raised by 2 pesos to continue providing proper service.

The union’s requests to the Secretariat of Transportation (Semovi) for 
fuel subsidies have also been met with silence.

“[Semovi] had no details about the presented proposals. In exchange for 
maintaining the fare as it is, they should grant us a subsidy of between 
8,000 and 10,000 pesos,” said Vázquez.

In response to the Mexico City government’s suggestion that drivers seek 
benefits from the Mexican Social Security Institute, Vázquez said that 
the union could not take the proposal seriously.

“According to what President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said, anyone 
can go receive social security services simply by presenting their 
[identification],” he said. “So where’s the benefit being offered?”

Source: Milenio (sp)