{"id":23657,"date":"2020-09-14T16:26:48","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T15:26:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=23657"},"modified":"2020-09-14T16:26:50","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T15:26:50","slug":"bus-drivers-begin-strike-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=23657","title":{"rendered":"Bus drivers begin strike ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

London bus drivers employed by Singapore-owned Metroline will be\u00c2\u00a0balloted next week for industrial action which could hit the capital’s roads this autumn\u00c2\u00a0in a dispute over the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proposals to introduce a\u00c2\u00a0controversial\u00c2\u00a0remote sign on system.<\/p>\n

Metroline operates in North and West London and around 16 per cent of all bus drivers in the capital work for the company.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Remote sign on\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 means\u00c2\u00a0drivers do\u00c2\u00a0not report to a depot to start work but meet their bus and begin work at an alternative\u00c2\u00a0location such as a bus stop. Remote sign on forces\u00c2\u00a0drivers to start work away from the depot, reducing costs and boosting the company’s profits.<\/p>\n

Unite argues that there is no benefit to passengers, and in fact, remote sign on could well cause disruption to services used by the hundreds of thousands\u00c2\u00a0of people who use buses every day\u00c2\u00a0to get to work and school.<\/p>\n

Anger about Metroline\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proposals was highlighted by a consultative ballot at both Metroline companies in the capital. Unite members at Metroline West recoded a 99.2 per cent yes vote, while the figure for Metroline Travel was 97.8 per cent.<\/p>\n

Ballot papers will be sent from\u00c2\u00a0Friday 18 September\u00c2\u00a0and the ballot will close on\u00c2\u00a0Monday 26 October\u00c2\u00a0with strikes across London in November should the members vote in favour of industrial action.<\/p>\n

The workforce have described Metroline\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plans to introduce remote sign on as a\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0098massive slap in the face\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for a group of workers who kept London moving during the height of the pandemic, despite the deaths of 29 London bus drivers and many others suffering serious illness after contracting the virus.<\/p>\n

Although the dispute is primarily about remote sign on, there are\u00c2\u00a0also\u00c2\u00a0concerns about the lack of air conditioning in bus drivers, problems over the sealing of cabs and other health and safety worries.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMetroline has failed to understand the anger among our members about its proposals to introduce remote sign on,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 commented Unite regional officer Mary Summers.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is a huge slap in the face to drivers who lost colleagues during the pandemic but who still in the spirit of public service continued to ensure key workers got to work.<\/p>\n

“There is also absolutely no advantage to passengers in this system, and in fact it builds in the potential for service disruption.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMetroline is more interested in profits than passenger or driver safety.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe company are experimenting with the safety of London\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s transport network during a pandemic which is reckless in the extreme.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf strike action does occur it will inevitably cause severe disruption for London commuters but this dispute is driven by Metroline\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s desire to turbo-charge profits.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMetroline need to see reason and drop these ill-thought out and dangerous proposals.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

Unite is opposed to remote sign on for reasons which include safety \u00e2\u20ac\u201c there will be no checks to ensure the driver is fit and well to drive a bus; lack of access to toilet facilities, rest and canteen facilities; drivers will be forced to wait for their bus to arrive in all weathers, potentially harming\u00c2\u00a0their health and\u00c2\u00a0ability to drive a bus over a long shift; a greater risk of exposure to Covid-19 in travelling to a location which has not been subject to the risk assessment and health measures in place in a\u00c2\u00a0depot; increase in the dangers and problems of fatigue as drivers will be subjected to far higher travelling time; and also the lack of a back-up. If a driver is delayed or a bus is not operational, then at a depot there is always alternative options to provide passenger transport.<\/p>\n

By Barckley Sumner <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

London bus drivers employed by Singapore-owned Metroline will be\u00c2\u00a0balloted next week for industrial action which could hit the capital’s roads this autumn\u00c2\u00a0in a dispute over the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proposals to introduce a\u00c2\u00a0controversial\u00c2\u00a0remote sign on system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19110,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1308,1],"tags":[176,964,1055],"wps_subtitle":"Vote over new \u00e2\u20ac\u0098remote sign on\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for drivers\u00c2\u00a0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23657"}],"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=23657"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23659,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23657\/revisions\/23659"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}