Major bus union vows to stage strikes to protest tax reform

Santo Domingo.- The head of the bus drivers’ union CNTU on Monday warned they’ll stage street protests against the Government’s tax reform proposal in the coming days.

Ramon Perez Figuereo said the unions reject the tax reform because in his view the added taxes will harm the population in general, especially the 16% tax on fuels and the 1% of the vehicle’s value to renew license plates.

The union leader said that the population can’t withstand more taxes and said the country must be given details as to how the RD$180.0 billion fiscal deficit was created, in which he said the population didn’t take part. "We’re readying a big protest in the coming days in different parts of the country and provincial meetings to coordinate national actions in response to the reform.”

He said social movements, transport and various sectors of national life are displeased for not forming part of the Social Economic Council’s discussions, which in his view "have been exclusive and limited only to try to accommodate the nation to accept government action."

Perez said with that tax reform the transport sector will lose around 200,000 jobs and investments. "A bus that costs 14 million pesos would pay 140,000 pesos to renew the plate, a car RD$10,000, instead of RD$2,000, which would be unbearable."