A LARGE and busy picket line stood outside Wood Green bus station yesterday morning as more than 1,500 Arriva North London drivers began strikes over hot weather working that will run into October.
Bus driver Lees told News Line: ‘We have come out on strike. We are fighting for ourselves and the public as well. They’re getting cooked on the bus and we’re cooked in the cab.
‘It’s dangerous for us and the public using the bus. There’s no AC (air conditioning), only an air-cooling system. It doesn’t work. There’s a small fan in the cab which blows hot air on your face. It takes air from outside and blows it inside the bus.
‘The toilet facilities are another problem. We have to hold it. If we stop near a pub or something, the controller will call and ask why?
‘TfL (Transport for London) should look at bus operators and sanction them.
‘Management and TfL sit in an office with AC on. This is our struggle. The weather is changing every year.’
A woman driver added: ‘We need air conditioning in summer. In the winter our feet are freezing.
‘The heater doesn’t work. There are large numbers of drivers who die from bad health.’
Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab told the picket over the microphone: ‘Solidarity to every single one of you. There has been enough talk and enough motions from the Greater London Assembly.
‘You are doing what is necessary, taking collective action.
‘You should be confident of winning a victory. The weather we have at the moment is going to be around for years. Let’s use this campaign here, and across the UK to take the necessary action.
‘You should be really proud of yourselves. I work in the office of Sharon Graham, the newly elected leader of the Union. It’s not your fault. That lies with the Assembly, the GLA and the companies. You’re going to get huge public sympathy. Stand proud and get your victory.’
Driver Ali said: ‘The private companies are here to make a profit. That’s all they care about.
‘London has the most expensive transport than anywhere else. In Finland Sweden and Netherlands, it is way, way cheaper on the buses and trains.
‘The buses should either be free or close to being free and have to be publicly owned.
‘Most of the time you have to work 7 days in a row, with no choice. They will give you 2 days off. Some people work their off-days as they need the extra money for the family.’
The drivers work out of eight garages at Barking, Edmonton, Enfield, Grays, Palmers Green, Stamford Hill, Tottenham and Wood Green.
After today the action resumes from 18 to 21 August and 25 to 28 August, then across September and into October, with the late August dates and part of the September action falling alongside planned engineering closures on the Piccadilly Line.
