LONDON BUSES ground to a lalt on Wednesday 29 January, as angry busworkers struck over the recent savage Twenty thousand drivers and conductors took part, bringing London's busservice to a standstill.
Busworkers are bitter about the soaring number of attacks made on them especially on late night crews. Last year alone there were nearly 1000 assaults on London Transport staff: 480 of them serious cnough for sick leave.
Tof the strike, has been pathetic.
taken place in some London garages, Most of these broke up into generul chir-chat after five minutes, because the only advice management could "premeditated" from 'unmeditated" attacks.
to get into lights. In the latter-well there wasn't anyching you could do Angry busworkers at London Transport's Merton garage, where murdered conductor Ronnie Jones was based killing of black conductor Ronnie Jones Cent of an incident. Although we groups.
The response of London Transport affirmed. mangement, other than muted criticism Seminais to discuss mugging have doubling-up of crews.
give was for busworkers to distinguish transport unions work out a rota for In the former case conductors were be put on late buses. customers were argumentative and not PASSENGERS Busworkers are demanding that better warning systems be litted to buses to attract police attention in the support this demand it provides no Jong tern solution: at best the police arrive after the attack has already occurred: at worse they aggravate the situation hy picking on minority Much of the trouble is thar bus workers are so hainstrung by the London tor gets into trouble we would not Transport rule book that they can't even defend themselves when under attack. The right of busworkers to elementary self-defence must be Furthermore, many of these attacks take place on "One Man Operated" buses- passengers explining to them wity so the demand for self-defence should be coupled to that of the scrapping of OMOs in "peak" mugging hours and the London Transport should foot the bill and the when and where they believe such measures to be necessary. If necessary an extra conductor with a dog should public Final responsibility for the defence attack of busworkers must rest with the nublic factory trade unionists would allow s couple of thugs to walk up to a workmate and stab him or her, But tha B what is happening regularly on Londor buses while passengers, many of them trade unionises, sit idly by Barbara Corfield, a conductress at Merton garage where Jones was based. summed up busworkers" feelings aboul violence on the buses. "If the public were more cooperative when a conduc need protection" she said. "There were enough people on that bus of Mr Jone but they did nothing to help.
The Transport Workers Union should be forced to take this up and distribute thousands of leatlets to they must defend bus crews.
London Transport is already in a chronic crisis: workers ane leaving because of the appallingly difficult hour; while many vehicles are out of action because of spares shortages.or because crews are quitting in the face of abuse and indifference from the Passengers should understand that il they want a bus service at all, then they must defend busworkers under