The T&G union will call for London bus drivers to be designated ‘key workers’ in the same way that other public sector workers are.
The demand comes days after a report by the London Assembly committee showed that complaints against drivers have trebled in the past four years.
The committee said that 43,000 complaints had been registered about how the buses were driven – 80% of which were attributed directly to the behaviour of the driver.
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The T&G is calling for:
- Minimum standards for busworkers in TfL tenders – including on-board safety for driver’s cabs, CCTV, working assault alarms, canteens providing hot meals and buses to take staff to and from work
- Maximum driving spell of 4.5 hours
- Access to final salary pensions
- Drivers’ cabs to be treated as places of work
T&G national organiser for transport, Graham Stevenson, said it was time to “renew, recharge and move forward to restore the value of bus workers”.