‘A useful first step’

Unite delegate Maria Dickenson spoke in support of a composite on buses.

Maria, a bus driver from Cardiff said that bus services were an absolute “lifeline for our communities.”

She explained. “Young people, pensioners, disabled people and many working-class people are reliant on regular, affordable bus services to go about their daily lives.

“These are the arteries that keep many of our towns, cities and rural areas connected, supporting growth, employment and healthy communities.”

But out old friend “chronic underfunding has left them completely sidelined while metropolitan areas reap the benefits.

“If we are truly serious about expanding and rebuilding these essential services, we must invest just as heavily in the workforce driving them.”

She spoke from personal experience on the long hours and intolerable working conditions.

“We come to work knowing that we could face violence, abuse and aggression simply for doing our jobs. We struggle to access something as basic as a decent toilet during our shifts, and in the summer, we can spend hours behind the wheel in unbearable heat.”

And it wasn’t just the staff – Maria reported that passengers too “have experienced worsening services while bus firms and their shareholders rake in huge profits.”

She was pleased to contribute to this debate as Unite welcomed this composite as a “useful first step.”

“But,” she added, “we know that the best solution for bus services is for them to be returned to public ownership.

“Outsourcing to private companies simply hasn’t worked. In Greater Manchester we’ve seen that there is an alternative. We know that public ownership does work.” 

Concluding she said, “Unite is determined that Buses for London will be only the beginning – and up and down the country local authorities and city mayors will do the same.

The motion was carried.

By Amanda Campbell

Photo by Mark Thomas