Tallinn Cuts 93 Bus Attendants

Two months after the criticism PM Andrus Ansip publicly expressed against the social workers employed for helping passengers in public transports, the Tallinn Bus Company decided to terminate its working relation with 95 of the 400 whose contract expired on December 31.

While 27 of them left the position because they have been able to find a better employment for 2010, Sirje Roht – head of the company’s press department – explained that the termination of 42 contracts took place as the employees “did not do their responsibilities, failed to show up at work or did not do their work properly”.

Unluckily for them 10 more employees have been obliged to abandon the place because of health reasons while – it seems to be true, no black humor involved – 7 out of 400 found the job too complicated for themselves and preferred giving up.

Hired suspiciously close to the capitol Municipal election, the so called bus attendant (paid 4,450 EEK/month) became somehow popular when the head of the Estonian government accused the position to be “an affront to human dignity” during an interview given to Vikerradio and never managed to conquer the sympathy of the majority of public transport users.