Unite the union is calling for better protection for bus drivers after a survey it conducted revealed 82% of respondents had suffered abuse last year.
Following the death of Stagecoach North Scotland driver Keith Rollinson after he was assaulted while at work in February, the union repeated demands for specific legislation to support transport staff.
The survey of 1,800 drivers found that more than half said they did not report incidents to their employer and that 79% felt that abuse had increased in the past year.
As well as calling for the introduction of a specific law around assaulting, threatening or abusing transport staff at work, the union is asking operators to implement safeguarding policies, particularly around late or early shifts.
It also demands operators “radically change their attitudes and stamp out the acceptance of abuse as part of the job”.
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham says: “No one should feel unsafe at work. Our research highlights that it is all too common for bus drivers to be subject to daily abuse. This is completely unacceptable and Unite is holding bus operators to account where they fail to protect workers.”
An anonymous Stagecoach bus driver in Yorkshire adds: “I am extremely worried as I feel myself or colleagues will be seriously physically attacked whilst at work. The risk to us all regarding carrying large amounts of cash whilst on duty, and when walking late at night back to the depot, places us at extreme risk. It is only a matter of time till one of us is robbed.
“The risk to us is severe, yet nothing is in place to mitigate those risks. We should not be placed in a situation where we are verbally and potentially physically attacked whilst at work, nor should we be put at risk whilst walking between the depot, drivers’ rest areas and buses at any time of day or night. I do fear for my safety whilst on or off the buses and when face to face with the public, as there is no way of stopping them attacking or robbing me, and I feel like the company does not care.”
Another anonymous driver adds: “No form of abuse is taken seriously. I was assaulted at work and it was classed as a low event as it only lasted one and a half minutes. A few days later I was robbed and it was deemed an otherwise normal, uneventful journey even though I was being verbally taunted and shouted at throughout the journey.”
