Bus drivers suffer “staggering level of abuse”
Unite demands ‘protection’ for Scottish bus drivers following survey findings
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“Verbal abuse is a daily occurrence while driving a bus…It can range from basic insults of being told you are rubbish at your job to personal insults to racial insults to threats to your personal safety.”
This is just one anonymous experience from a Scottish bus driver who responded to a Unite survey of over 1000 drivers.
Unite the union today (Thursday 14 November) released the findings of a mass survey of 1,100 bus drivers across Scotland which reveals historic high levels of abuse and major concerns over safety on public transport.
The union has been campaigning to improve bus driver safety in the aftermath of Keith Rollinson’s death following an assault at his place of work in Elgin in February this year.
Unite’s mass survey of 1,100 bus drivers found:
- 99 per cent support stronger legislative measures to protect bus drivers.
- 84 per cent said the number of instances of abuse at work increased in the last 12 months.
- Where respondents said they had been a victim of abuse, 83 per cent said it was verbal abuse, 16 per cent physical abuse, and one per cent victims of sexual abuse/assault at work.
- 79 per cent said the abuse suffered was not reported to the police while 48 per cent did not report it to their employer.
- 69 per cent of those who did report an abuse incident said they were dissatisfied with their employer’s response.
- 51 per cent said they do not feel safe at work while 85 per cent said they believe it is now ‘just part of the job’.
In the aftermath of the survey findings, Unite has called on the Scottish government to swiftly hold a public transport safety summit involving all key stakeholders including unions, bus companies, transport bodies, local authorities and the police.
Unite is demanding that its ‘Road Map to Safety’ is implemented which would introduce a set of minimum safety measures aimed at discouraging anti-social and violent behaviour on buses.
The road map includes increasing the presence of police officers or community wardens on buses, CCTV coverage on buses and at bus stations, panic buttons and other enhanced safety features installed on buses including internal locking systems.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Urgent measures must be taken to address the staggering level of abuse being suffered by bus drivers. In no way is this acceptable. Unite members will not tolerate abuse any longer.
“The Scottish Government has to step up and step in to ensure our members feel safe at work. A do nothing response is not an option. Unite is working with its members to explore all options to ensure endemic workplace abuse is tackled in the workplace.”
Unite has repeatedly called for stronger legislative measures to be enacted which would protect bus drivers. The survey identified that 99 percent of bus drivers are supportive of legislation that would make it a specific offence to assault, threaten or abuse transport workers while at work. Either through new legislation or by amending the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005.
The union has highlighted that anti-social behaviour has been widespread for years on buses and that the problem pre-exists the extension of the bus travel scheme. However, bus drivers are reporting that the rate of incidents has increased with the scheme’s extension.
As part of the survey Unite heard stories from drivers who face constant abuse and threats, just for doing their jobs.
Comments have been anonymised to protect drivers, but one said: ““Being a female, I find it challenging to drive late evenings on weekends when folk are drunk. They can stand, stare at you, or start to try to touch or to have a conversation by telling you how beautiful you are etc, which makes me feel very uncomfortable.”
Another driver highlighted the lack of support from the employer, ““I was verbally abused and threatened by a group of youths in January. I called police via 999 in the cab. It took over 30 minutes for police to respond while it was still happening. After the event I was spoken to by a manager in an informal setting who had read my report from the incident. Following that I have had nothing. No follow up.”
Whilst another spoke of the threats she had received, ““Being a female driver, I find I get more abuse given than my male counterparts…I’ve been threatened with being stabbed multiple times and on one occasion threatened with rape. I’m at the stage now where if there’s a large group of teens waiting at a bus stop, I won’t stop because I know it’s just going to be trouble from the get go.”
Unite Scottish secretary Derek Thomson said: “A public transport safety summit involving all key stakeholders needs to happen as a first step. This is a national public safety issue affecting drivers and passengers.”
“We need legislation, without delay, which addresses this wave of anti-social behaviour and violence towards bus workers because as each day passes drivers are being put at risk.”
By Keith Hatch
