London Buses Can’t Handle the Heat, Says Unite

LONDON - Unite, the UK’s largest union, is astonished that many London buses are so inadequately maintained they can not turn off the heating during the summer meaning temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius on some buses, making it hotter than Dubai.

Unite has been pressing the employers to ensure that air conditioning is fitted into the cabs of all the buses for many years.

Unite Regional Industrial Officer, Peter Kavanagh, said:

“Many of our members are being unfairly targeted by angry passengers who can not understand why the heating on the buses can not be switched off during the summer.

“The bus operators are not employing enough engineers to fully maintain the fleet to deal with this heat wave. Unite will be writing to the Transport for London’s Managing Director to ask why this problem has not been sorted out yet, as this serious discomfort for both passengers and drivers happens every summer.

“We welcome the Mayor’s commitment to air conditioning on some London Underground trains, but have yet to see this level of commitment towards London’s buses. We urge Boris Johnson to take a ride on these buses, which may go some way to help him rethink this policy.

“In the meantime, thousands of our members and millions of members of the public will have to suffer hotter temperatures than in Dubai. This is clearly a ridiculous situation which needs to be addressed urgently as health and safety of the staff and public must be paramount.”

Source: Unite the Union

For more information contact Peter Kavanagh on +44(0)7980-721422 or Ashraf Choudhury in the Unite press office on +44(0)20-7420-8914 or +44(0)7980-224761.