Novelos puts the squeeze on bus drivers
When it bought over its competition and emerged as the country’s only major bus company, Novelos Ltd. was both praised as a bold entrepreneur and condemned as a dangerous monopoly. Since then, the company’s internal affairs have been under some intense scrutiny. The latest revelation is a memo dated February twenty-fourth stipulating that drivers and conductors on the various bus runs must bring back a minimum amount of money each day. The memo goes on to state that any crew that does not hand in the required cash will be fired. Today, News 5 has confirmed with owner Tony Novelo that the leaked memo is authentic. According to Novelo, ticket revenues have dropped drastically and one reason may be that more than a few employees have been helping themselves to the company cash. Novelo goes on to maintain that the money required from each bus run is not exorbitant and since the memo, all but three teams have managed to meet the quota. No employee, he adds, have been fired for failing to reach their target. Just in case anyone was wondering about the legalities of such a move, according to officials at the Labour Department, the Novelos company is not breaking any laws.