Monday’s collective bargaining between the management of the Brno Transport Company (DPMB) and trade unions ended with an agreement on salary increases. DPMB will add 2% to all employee pay as of the beginning of June, and also announced an incentive reward to reduce the number of accidents.
“At the beginning of the year, we increased wages in the transport company by 5%, and we promised that if the company was in good shape, we would try to increase wages again,” said Miloš Havránek, CEO of DPMB. “At yesterday’s meeting, we therefore agreed with the trade unions on a further wage increase from 1 June, by 2%. The total 7% increase in wages will cost the company almost CZK 100 million.”
Another point of discussion was the new incentive reward for drivers, which DPMB is introducing in an effort to reduce the accident rate and increase the quality of the services provided. “As such, the number of accidents remains approximately the same,” said Jan Seitl, DPMB transport director. “However, the number of accidents caused by our drivers has increased by 7%. We are aware that there is a difficult traffic situation in Brno, so we do not want to act restrictively, but rather go the way of positive motivation. Drivers who do not have an accident from June to the end of November will receive a reward of CZK 10,000.”
More at-fault accidents for DPMB means higher expenses for carriage repairs, but also higher insurance premiums. In the case of buses, insurance premiums have increased by more than 80% due to the higher number of accidents. However, Havránek said the main priority for DPMB was passenger safety.
