Bus drivers, bosses at odds over incident

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17:  Bus drivers and their bosses have two sharply contrasting versions of events surrounding the dispute over a female driver.

Bosses say she failed to report an accident as required — her colleagues say the accident was reported by another driver but managers failed to follow-up and call her in immediately for a drug test.

One driver told us yesterday that the woman was told by her union not to take the test because management failed to follow proper procedure. The source told us the woman driver should have been ordered to take a test immediately following the accident.

Instead, she was reportedly allowed to continue to drive her passengers from Paget to Dockyard in a replacement bus after the accident, which happened on a Friday. She was not asked to take a test until the following Monday, it is claimed.

This version of events is at odds with a statement issued earlier this week by the Public Transportation Board. It said the bus driver had not reported the accident to the department and that — even though she had been told by police to move the bus — she should have pulled in at the earliest opportunity and reported the accident so an investigator could attend while all the witnesses were still on board.

A PTB spokeswoman added that the woman driver was radioed to come in for a drugs test after supervisors became aware of the accident and agreed to attend — but later called in sick for the weekend.

She added that the woman driver, a four-year veteran, had been given five opportunities to take a drug test, but refused them all.

A mass meeting of around 100 bus service employees brought transport services to a halt for several hours on Monday.

Union representatives and PTB officals met yesterday in a bid to find a solution to the dispute.

A driver told us: “The driver involved isn’t against taking a drugs test — but this is not about the driver in question, it’s about the way it was done.

“She should have been taken directly to a test. This wasn’t done... If they [management] had done what they were supposed to do on the day in question, this wouldn’t be happening. She was allowed to drive on by police, who were in attendance and management did nothing.”

The accident happened on Friday, June 24, after the woman driver’s bus broke down. She reportedly failed to put on the handbrake and her bus rolled forward as passengers were being transferred to another bus. A woman’s hand was trapped as she boarded the replacement vehicle.

Seven weeks’ pay

Our source told us that the dispute now centred around the PTB’s refusal to pay the driver for the seven weeks she has not been at work while the dispute simmered on.

He said: “The only hold-up is the payment issue — that’s what we’re really fighting for now, as well as the principle of how it was done and the conduct of management.

“If they’d done the test on day one, we wouldn’t be in this position, but they waited until day three to test her. She will not be reimbursed for the seven weeks she’s been off work, but we’re going to fight for that. It might work or it might not, but we’re determined to try.”

The BIU member added that management had wanted to test the woman driver’s hair for drugs — although the collective bargaining agreement specifies a urine test.

He said the driver had reported for work on the following Monday morning and was kept waiting from 8am to 1pm, when she was told she would need to take a test.

The insider added that management had told the driver BIU representatives had been informed of the decision — but he insisted the union had not been told.

BIU bus drivers stopped work for several hours on Monday to hold a meeting to discuss the dispute. Our insider said bus operators voted “overwhelmingly” to support their colleague in the dispute.

We put the driver’s version of events to BIU chief negotiator George Scott but he declined to get into specifics or to comment on the progress of yesterday’s talks.

If a solution is not reached, further action could include a work-to-rule — leading to service disruption and tourist sightseeing buses being taken off the road.

Mr Scott said: “We had a meeting with the Department of Public Transport today and we will be able to make an announcement later.”

Neither Transport Minister Terry Lister nor PTB could be reached for comment yesterday.