The Yerevan Municipality has fired 18 bus drivers who were on strike in demand of better working conditions, accusing them of seeking to blackmail the city authorities.

The bus drivers were fired on Tuesday — the same day they began their strike, with Yerevan’s Deputy Mayor, Suren Grigoryan, suggesting that the number could increase. 

Prior to firing them, Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan stated that the municipality ‘will not give in to any kind of blackmail, we will not compromise’ and that the organisers of the strike would be held ‘strictly accountable’.

The drivers told reporters that aside from demanding pay raises, they were protesting against the lack of toilets on the job, having to purchase their own uniforms, and having to clean their buses. They said that the authorities promised to address their demands in November.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, Grigoryan admitted that some of the issues raised by the bus drivers were ‘objective’, and that they were working on addressing them, but noted that the drivers had not raised those issues before ‘because they had a side income’.

However, the municipality’s spokesperson, Hayk Kostanyan, said that the labour issues raised by the drivers ‘have been regularly resolved’, alongside notifying the drivers that their working conditions would improve ‘along with the reduction of shadow turnover’ — when bus drivers keep passenger fares for themselves.

Kostanyan noted that ‘a large number of drivers’ joined the strike without prior notice as demanded by the law. He also called their demands ‘illogical’ and ‘accompanied by manifestations of blackmail’.

He suggested that the bus drivers’ discontent might be caused by the introduction of a unified ticketing system, allowing passengers to purchase tickets through terminals on the bus instead of directly paying the drivers, reducing their chances of keeping it to themselves as a side income.

Kostanyan also published the net salaries the bus drivers were paid a month: ֏220,000–֏400,000 ($560–$1,000). 

He added that the strike ‘will be assessed within the framework of labour legislation, and we will apply to the relevant authorities to ensure that the appropriate criminal-legal assessment is given to the above-mentioned actions’.

Currently, Armenia’s capital is undergoing transportation reforms as a result of which the transport fares are set to rise starting from 1 January 2025. Instead of charging passengers ֏100 ($0.25) per ride, passengers now have to pay ֏280 ($0.70), allowing them access to multiple fares within 90 minutes of having purchased the ticket. They have also introduced several packages, including an annual one for ֏90,000 ($230). 

Former Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan has launched a petition against the hike in fees in early November, demanding that the City Council u-turns on its decision to raise public transport fares.

Incumbent Yerevan Mayor Avinyan has agreed to participate in a public debate with Marutyan on the issue on Factor TV on 18 December.