Drastic measures only way out in some cases - Yerevan mayor 

ArmInfo. In certain situations, the use of strict measures is the only option to solve the problem. Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan said this in an interview with public  television, commenting on the strike of public transport drivers and  the dismissal of 32 workers in this sector.

According to Avinyan, it is important to understand in which area and  how the strike is taking place. He emphasized that in areas such as  public transport and healthcare, there are legislative norms  requiring 14- day advance notice of strikes.

Speaking about why the mayor's office called this a blackmail method,  Avinyan noted that work is underway on all the issues raised. Thus,  according to him, some problems have already been resolved, while  others are in the process of being resolved. "In a situation where  the strike was warned 10 hours in advance and received the support of  certain opposition deputies, it is difficult to call these actions  anything other than blackmail," Avinyan explained.

At the same time, the head of the capital's municipality emphasized  that democracy does not imply permissiveness, but means the rule of  law. He assured that the mayor's office is doing everything possible  to protect the rights of drivers and solve their problems. However,  according to him, there is a serious contradiction between democracy  and permissiveness. In this regard, he decided to give an example  with doctors: "If doctors decide not to operate on patients on the  same day, this will become a serious problem.  The same applies to  bus service," Avinyan added.

Touching on overtime payments, Avinyan said that according to the  current legislation, they will be implemented from 2025. The mayor  emphasized that even if the strike is related to these payments, the  organizational actions do not comply with the Constitution, which is  what displeases him.

"I note with great pain that today 32 workers were fired - these are  32 families," Avinyan said, again emphasizing that this process was  supported by the opposition.

According to him, the opposition intended to start a new movement  based on the current process, blaming the drivers for facing this  situation for this very reason. Avinyan added that in some cases  there is no alternative to using harsh measures, specifying that this  was exactly such a case.

The head of the capital's municipality also stated that revising the  level of salaries of bus drivers is not a priority at the moment. He  noted that before returning to this issue, there are many other  places where salaries need to be raised, emphasizing that he did not  make such a promise and that salaries had already been raised  earlier.

Touching on the question of why no one from the city hall came to the  protesters, Avinyan said that they cannot and do not intend to speak  on the same topic many times. He assured that people were deprived of  black income that was not intended for them.

Answering the question about the drivers who were left without work  and have families, Avinyan noted that if there is a reason to  consider their cases, they will be discussed. However, the city  administration's general approach to this issue will not change, no  matter how harsh it may sound.

Speaking about the availability of a sufficient number of drivers to  replace those fired, Avinyan noted that there are about 50 drivers  with category "D" licenses in Armenia and considers their  capabilities to be quite broad. Avinyan again shifted the blame to  opposition MPs, pointing out that some of them could have pushed the  drivers to such actions. 

At the same time, the mayor of Yerevan avoided explaining the  principle by which they fired these drivers.  "It will be difficult  to say who is protesting and who is not, and who is just gathering  from the sidelines or trying to get additional dividends. I am not  saying that this process can stop; it can continue. We are not going  to tolerate such an attitude," Avinyan said, avoiding a clear answer.

He also noted that it is necessary to recognize that such changes do  not always go smoothly and such situations are expected. At the same  time, he added that drivers who have not yet been fired and are  returning to work should continue everything as before. "Our  transport sector is already burdened, and there is no point in  burdening it even more."

According to him, their only proposal is that those who want to work  simply return to their activities, since they have no other  proposals. "Transportation in Yerevan will operate; perhaps the  frequency will be slightly reduced. But I tell you honestly: if  necessary, we ourselves will go and get into the cars, call on people  in these difficult times to pick up people from bus stops. I do not  see any problem here. And I think people understand why this process  is so important - so that we establish some kind of order and norms  of integrity in the bus sector, which did not exist before," Avinyan  concluded.

The drivers of the Yerevan Bus CJSC refused to go on routes early in  the morning of December 3, demanding better working conditions.  Thousands of Yerevan residents found themselves in a difficult  situation, forced to wait for hours for the rare buses that did not  join the strike. The situation was aggravated by the lack of  transport and the rise in taxi prices. The mayor's office did not  find a better solution to the problem than firing the drivers and  making threats.