South London Solidarity

Unite’s Fight Fatigue Now campaign bus visited striking estates workers at the South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust on Friday (31 July) in a show of workers solidarity with both groups joining each other on the top deck to discuss the issues and highlight their concerns to the public.

Unite had been touring the capital last week (27 – 31 July) as part of an ongoing campaign to highlight how Bus driver fatigue in London is putting passengers, pedestrians and workers at risk.

Unite has been highlighting the dangers of driver fatigue and how it can cause a higher risk of accidents such as bus crashes, while pointing out that factors such as long shifts, insufficient rest time and breaks and poor scheduling can all lead to unacceptable stress and tiredness.

The campaign bus visited garages from Southall to Stamford Hill and Wood Green to West Croydon to give bus workers campaign materials, talk to members and drivers, and explain how people can get involved in the fight against fatigue on London’s buses.

As well as garages the Unite branded bus the Transport for London (TfL) offices in Southwark and a picket line in Chelsea as part of the Institute of Cancer Research workers dispute.

On the final day of the campaign tour the bus made a pit stop between Camberwell Green and Brixton garages to offer support to the NHS estates staff at Denmark Hill.

The hospital’s joiners, electricians, plumbers and painters and decorators have been taking industrial action over the creation of a two-tier workforce where workers doing the same job are on different pay grades.

The strike action resulted in disruption to estates and maintenance services at Bethlem Royal, Lambeth, Lewisham and Maudsley hospitals. 

You can find out more about the Fight Fatigue Now campaign here.

Photos from the day are below.

By Keith Hatch

Photos by Mark Thomas