{"id":18703,"date":"2019-08-29T17:18:55","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T16:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=18703"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:55:36","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:55:36","slug":"bus-driver-fatigue-demo-city-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=18703","title":{"rendered":"Give us a break"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

London bus drivers descended on City Hall in the capital today (August 29) to demand action from Transport for London (TfL) and private bus operators after the publication of a shock new report into bus driver fatigue.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The report incontrovertibly proved that the experiences of Unite bus drivers, who face gruelling shift patterns and intolerable working conditions, are not isolated instances but are in fact part of an entrenched epidemic of dangerous levels of exhaustion.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The report found that 21 per cent of bus drivers had to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098fight sleepiness\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 at least two or three times a week. Thirty six per cent had a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098close call\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 due to fatigue in the last 12 months, 17 per cent had actually fallen asleep at least once while driving and five per cent had been involved in at least one accident in the last year due to fatigue.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bus drivers at today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s demo told harrowing stories of falling asleep at the wheel, working shifts with so little sleep that they felt as though they were drugged.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite bus driver and rep Boa Singh (pictured below) said falling asleep at the wheel was a common experience, one that he called \u00e2\u20ac\u015ban outrage\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"bus<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much pressure to be on time that we are pressured to take risks like breaking the speed limit and skip our breaks,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere are often no facilities so we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the time nor the place to use the toilet for hours.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite bus driver and shop steward Louise (pictured), who has been in the job for more than three decades, said that being overworked has become so common that workers at her garage \u00e2\u20ac\u015bare simply worn out all the time\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople are afraid of taking time off for being tired because they fear they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be disciplined,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBecause shifts are so unbalanced and long, with only five minute breaks between each, even if you do have a decent night sleep, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still exhausted.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"bus<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bus drivers who spoke to Unite highlighted that a common shift pattern for bus drivers means they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll only have one or two days off for every week they work. Sometimes, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll go two weeks before having a day off. Because they switch from day to night shifts, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re circadian rhythms are turned upside down.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bJust recently I had to be up at 4 in the morning, but I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fall asleep until 1am because my body clock and the stress wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let me,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 explained Unite bus driver and John O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Rourke. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m nodding off at the wheel on my way to work.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe shift patterns are a real killer because they multiply the fatigue all the time. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re fatigued constantly because you haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t properly recovered from the shift before or the shift before that. When I get my two days off, I spend one in bed all day and the other just preparing for work. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got no family or social life.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"bus<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite rep and bus driver Dave Turner (pictured above) was so stressed from fatigue and social isolation spending time away from family and friends that he was for several years put on anti-depressants.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t realise how bad the job is, as it is managed now, for drivers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 mental and physical health,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve worked in the job for a few years, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re much more likely to have heart problems, circulatory issues, diabetes, and mental health problems.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on shift work, you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see your family; after a while your friends stop calling because you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re either working or sleeping, you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be involved in any hobbies \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a big reason why I became depressed.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite is now calling on TfL to take decisive action in response to the Loughborough report, whose publication was a direct result of the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lobbying.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So far, TfL has pledged to provide \u00c2\u0141500,000 of funding for bus operators to put forward new ways to tackle fatigue, and will also require bus operators who are awarded new contracts after the summer of 2020 to demonstrate a robust system to reduce the risk of fatigue.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But Unite believes much more must be done to tackle fatigue, and that any effective system must ensure bus operators introduce civilised rosters, provide decent driver facilities, and replace the militaristic, disciplinarian culture in the garages with a more open and cooperative one.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite has also called for low pay to be tackled, which the union believes is another\u00c2\u00a0driver of fatigue \u00e2\u20ac\u201c when bus drivers don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t earn enough, they feel forced to work excessive overtime to make ends meet.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

London Mayor Sadiq Khan attended today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s demo and pledged to do all in his power to ensure bus operators take action.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Commenting on the report, which was commissioned by TfL, Khan said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis should be a wake-up call for TfL to do much, much more to improve the conditions of our bus drivers to make sure that the fatigue and tiredness many bus drivers suffer [ends].<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI promise to work with Unite, TfL and the bus operators to improve conditions so that future generations can be proud to become bus drivers. This is by no means the end.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite regional officer John Murphy said that while fatigue was being blamed on bus drivers by the firms they work for, Unite member weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to accept this.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFatigue is caused by the bus operators and TfL,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bDrivers won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take the blame because of operators greed.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

London bus drivers descended on City Hall in the capital today (August 29) to demand action from Transport for London (TfL) and private bus operators after the publication of a shock new report into bus driver fatigue.   The report incontrovertibly proved that the experiences of Unite bus drivers, who face gruelling shift patterns and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18707,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[176,964,238],"wps_subtitle":"Unite stages demo at City Hall to highlight dangerous levels of bus driver fatigue","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18703"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18703"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25061,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18703\/revisions\/25061"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}