00:00For the past eight months, at least 150 school maxi-taxi drivers have gone without payment for the daily transportation of the nation's school children.
00:11Hired under the Ministry of Education through PTSC, the drivers say far too often over the years they've had to fight to get their salaries.
00:21Every day we come out to work, we're carrying people's children to school and we are not being treated fairly, we're not being compensated for our labour.
00:31We all have financial constraints, we have family to support and yet we are struggling to make ends meet.
00:41On Friday, members of the school maxi-taxi concessionaires held a media conference in front of the PTSC San Fernando office.
00:51We never get a pay since May of last year, so from June come right back to now we didn't get a pay.
00:58When you ask them about money, they say they don't have no say over that.
01:02They cannot tell you when, it's with the Ministry of Education.
01:05Apart from not being paid for months, the sum owed, they say, is not a fair salary and an increase is also overdue.
01:14The pay that we are getting to do our route, any particular route, it is less than half the normal fare we are getting.
01:24As my brother mentioned, $4.95, the normal taxi fare for that route, it would be about $12.
01:30And this is what PTSC is paying us.
01:34And they are only promising that they would increase and we are not getting any increase.
01:38We thought it would have been different with this government, but ever since at least 14 years INE system, and it has been like this all the time.
01:45Drivers are calling for an urgent meeting with both the Minister of Education and PTSC management to address these concerns.
01:54We would like to get a meeting with the Minister of Education, alongside with the manager of PTSC, who is in charge of looking after us.
02:05We would like to get a meeting with them so that we could try to rectify the situation.
02:08If the case, if it comes to a case like that, where we don't have money to continue servicing our buses and we don't get paid from the PTSC, we will have to pack up.
02:20Not refuse to, but we'll have to pack up.
02:22We contacted the Minister of Education on this matter and was told by its Corporate Communications Department that they are actively looking into the non-payment drivers.
02:33And TV6 was told the executive of the ministry will be meeting soon with the drivers to discuss their concerns.
02:41Cindy Ragubatika Singh, TV6 News.
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