When I started in the industry, break facilities for drivers and crews were often dire. It was not so much the food on offer; yes, it had a ‘chips with everything’ tendency, but it was often of good quality.
Instead, it was the surrounding environment. Often neglected and not especially clean, with ageing furniture and few creature comforts. My colleague told me of a Scottish location where a leak from the first-floor gents’ toilets dripped into the canteen below.
Down in depots, the places where engineers had their breaks were often worse. A dingy, dirty, oily cubbyhole at best. I have seen more than one engineer eating their ‘snap’ onboard a bus that they were working on because the surroundings were better.
Even office staff were not immune. At United’s Grange Road HQ, works and office lunch times were staggered so the office lunch could be fume-laden and taken to the tune of revving Gardner. Hours of opening were another factor. Often, an ‘added attraction’ of a backshift was a closed canteen!
You might argue that even a grotty canteen is better than none, and they often fell victim to cutting overheads even back in National Bus Company days. Here is a room. Bring your own food and wash it down with soupy tea from a machine.
Not long ago, I was using Google Street View to check walking routes in a major city. Opposite the bus station, a small army of hi-vis vests was clearly evident encircling a burger van. It might be a very good burger van, but is that the best advertisement for caring about your staff?
The principle stretches to signing on and paying in areas. If your welcome to work is down at heel and grubby, with worn flooring and scuffed walls, it does not exactly convey the impression of being a valued member of staff.
As well as pay and unsocial hours of work, being seen to be valued is important, especially for a driver who largely works unsupervised out on the road. Unsupervised should not mean contemptuously ignored.
It has been heartening recently to see several posts on LinkedIn showing new and improved staff accommodation at a range of operators, which is a positive step. If the industry is serious about retaining employees, decent break facilities must be a part of the deal. Even if your ‘bait’ comes in a Tupperware box, a comfy sofa to eat it on is not too much to ask.
