A POWERFUL busworkers march and rally was held in central London yesterday to launch a national campaign for better health and safety as well as improved pay and conditions.
The 200-strong demonstration assembled at the Unite office in Moreland Street and marched to Transport for London (TfL) HQ in Blackfriars, receiving huge support from pedestrians and passing vehicles.
Peter Skinner, Unite Rep at Wood Green Bus Garage in north London, told News Line: ‘In 2010 the Loughborough Report revealed the hours of work, lack of facilities and other poor conditions that we are expected to work under.
‘So we balloted for strike action and went on strike. Then we were going to strike in 2019, but Covid 19 got in the way. We decided to strike then because nothing had changed. Now, in fact it has got worse. So we put our heads together and decided an action against TfL, starting with this march.
‘I contacted the Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham and she said “if you want to demonstrate Unite will support it and organise a demonstration” and that’s what we’re doing here today. And we will take it further.’
Pat Hanlon, Unite member at Norwood Garage, said: ‘It’s about our working conditions – cutting buses off our routes, clean and efficient toilets and the number of hours we have to work, which is too many.
‘We suffer hot buses in the summer, which have no cooling systems and in the winter we have no heating in our cabs. And we are working a rota of between seven and 13 days, without getting a day off, including both an early day shift pattern and a late shift pattern.
‘It is all decided by the control centre and we often go without a decent break. We are often harassed by control, telling us we should go without a break because buses are overcrowded. All this is unacceptable and we won’t stand for it. We need to run more buses.’
Speaking at the rally outside TfL HQ, Onay Kazab, Unite National Lead Officer for Buses, said: ‘We are representing one of our members who on a hot day passed out in his cab before he was due to start driving.
‘He’d only been on the bus for a matter of minutes but the temperature was so unbearable that he passed out. He got on his radio and contacted his manager, who informed him that he could have a very short break of 20 minutes until he felt slightly better, but if he did not not go out on the bus he could lose his job.
‘We have several cases like this, sometimes the conditions for drivers are unbearable. This is an important struggle to win and I believe you will win.’
Unite bus rep Jimmy Rossi, told the rally: ‘It’s not just about when it’s hot or cold on the bus. I was told to take out a bus when it was faulty. The middle doors wouldn’t close, or when they were closed they wouldn’t reopen and the breaks weren’t coming on properly. They were working, but very slowly. I got on the radio and told control I don’t think this bus is safe to run.
‘I assured them that I was telling the truth. They said they weren’t sure if they believed me. They told me I might be making it up. This is the disrespect that we are treated with by managers. I had no reason to say it was unsafe if it was safe, but I had to talk to them for ten minutes before they finally backed down.
‘I refused to run the bus and only at that point did they finally let me have my way. How can we work under management like that who have no regard for the safety of workers or passengers and you have to argue that something is wrong when it is clearly wrong.’
Unite member Lorraine said: ‘Bus drivers don’t get enough toilet breaks. This is a concern, particularly for women. It’s undignified when you have to continually wait to go to the toilet.’
