DYING FOR A REST

I was pleased to see a resolution from Exeter branch at this year’s Health and Safety Conference at Blackpool regarding continuous driving time for bus drivers. I am pleased to report that this resolution, calling for a reduction from the current maximum of five and a half hours behind the wheel without a break, was passed unanimously. It is one thing to pass a resolution at a conference, and another to actually get the legislation changed so that it has a beneficial effect on our members’ health and safety at work. It is hard to believe that in this day and age, drivers of Public Service Vehicles are expected to safely control a vehicle with dozens of passengers on board, with total concentration, when they are not leaving the drivers seat for periods as long as 330 minutes at a stretch. LONG HOURS The culture of long driving hours, coupled with excessive lengths of duty hours in many bus companies, is causing problems ranging from fatigue and lack of concentration, to illnesses ranging from high blood pressure to bowel and urinary disorders. This is coupled with domestic pressures and marital difficulties caused by so little time at home. Many bus companies are forcing drivers to undertake duties of over ten hours a day, for five days a week, and still expecting staff to undertake additional work on their rest days. Some drivers are working 13 days out of 14 with total hours worked over a week totalling 70 plus. When these people do get to spend time at home, they are only capable of grabbing a few hours sleep before starting again. Work/Life balance is a concept that has no meaning to these bus companies, who view their staff as a disposable commodity, who are worked to the point of exhaustion and then disposed of through the Attendance at Work Procedure, when they are unable to carry on working these long hours. LOW PAY Some people may ask why are drivers prepared to work these long hours. This brings me to the other part of the equation. The basic pay of bus drivers is well below the national average, even though they are expected to work unsocial hours, including Bank Holidays, Saturdays and Sundays, with shifts starting as early as 4am, and finishing as late as 2am. The financial reward for undertaking these arduous shifts over a basic week is paltry to say the least, even though a basic rostered duty is sometimes as high as 50 hours. Drivers need to earn a living wage, and many are forced through financial necessity to undertake even longer hours of overtime to make the money up. It is now time to put a stop to this long hour’s culture, both behind the wheel, and the total length of time spent at work. Members need to get organised in the workplace and fight for better rates of pay and conditions, to enable them to stop having to spend an unacceptable length of time at work. Local representatives must work hard at depot level to force down the length of duties, and nationally, the union must campaign to get the legislation amended to bring down the maximum time spent behind the wheel to no more than four and a half hours. We have talked about this matter for as long as I can remember. It is now time to stop fantasising about the issue, and start taking the required action. Some companies have already seen the light, and reduced the hours expected of their staff. This must be extended to all locations where we have members. No longer should we be dying for a break, but we should be having a better quality of life. www.rmt.org.uk :: april 2007 :: RMTnews 11 DYING FOR A REST Executive member Peter Gale reports on the union’s campaign to reduce continuous driving time for bus drivers