A group of bus divers went on labor strike in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, on Thursday morning in an effort to protest the dismissal of the former chief of Yerevan Bus CJSC and appointment of a new acting director to the post.

The striking divers working for bus routes that connect Avan Administrative District to other parts of the city, demand that the former Yerevan Bus director get back to work, fearing of job cuts and poor employment conditions under the new leadership, the Yerevan Municipality told Panorama.am.

“[Yerevan Mayor] Hayk Marutyan assured the employees that there would be no job cuts or cadre changes in the company; the working conditions will not go worse, on the contrary, improvements in work time and salaries are expected,” the city hall said.

“However, a group of employees of the company refused to take to the road in the morning, demanding the return of the former director,” the Municipality said, adding the protesting drivers went back to work at 9am.

Yerevan Bus serves 19 routes with around 180 buses. Besides, there are about 70 unused buses in the company's headquarters. They will be used by the mayor's instruction in the near future, supplementing the list of routes served by the municipality.