Malaysian bus drivers go on strike leaving 4,500 delayed

The drivers gathered in the streets outside several bus stations in the northern Kelantan state early Thursday and refused to drive their vehicles until the management of two bus companies met their demands, the official Bernama news agency said.

The strike, which lasted for more than four hours, stranded some 4,500 people, heading back to their family homes ahead of the Muslim festival which begins Saturday.

A representative of the bus drivers claimed that the bus companies had promised to pay salaries a week earlier than usual as well as give employees a 300 ringgit (87 dollars) advance to buy goods for the celebrations.

"We don't draw a big salary, many of us depend on the advance for our (Eid al-Fitr) preparations including to buy our children's clothing," the representative was quoted as saying.

Some of the newer drivers are paid a 300 ringgit basic salary every month, and obtain allowances for every trip they make.

After the management met with the drivers and negotiated a release of their salary, several busses finally began their journeys across the nation some four hours later.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people travel from bigger cities to smaller home villages to celebrate the festival, which signals the end of fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

Bus and train tickets are usually booked more than a month in advance as the exodus out of the bigger cities begin days ahead of the festival.//DPA