Thursday 28 November 2013
Media enquiry from the Guernsey Press
Paul Ainsworth, Guernsey Press:
I had a media enquiry for the minister relating to claims made by outgoing CT Plus bus driver and union rep Norman Hercock.
Mr Hercock is leaving the island tomorrow but wanted to lift the lid on the situation at CT Plus.
He was also critical of Environment for sitting back too much when there were major issues with the buses.
He said the department should be more involved and more willing to listen to the bus drivers who are on the ground suffering with the stresses and strains of the timetable and long hours.
Could Deputy Domaille please respond to these claims?
Confirm if the department were actively engaging with the bus drivers?
Feel it could have done anything more to prevent the strikes earlier in the year?
An additional point made by the bus driver Mr Hercock was that he felt new laws needed to be introduced in Guernsey to address work conditions for bus drivers, such as how many hours they are allowed to work behind the wheel.
Environment Department response:
Unless government makes a decision to operate its own bus service using public sector employees, then the Environment Department cannot put its self between the operator and the employees. All it can do is ensure that the service is operated in accordance with the contract. It can, and of course does, discuss with the operator issues and concerns that it learns from whatever quarter but it cannot get in the middle of staff negotiations. CT Plus has encouraged the staff to operate through a union and Government has set up systems and procedures by which employer/employee negotiations can be conducted. These are the proper routes to follow.
In that the Strike earlier in the year was a wild cat unannounced strike that even took the union by surprise it is hard to see what more the Environment Department could have done to prevent it.
The Department currently sees no need for tacograph or equivalent legislation and considers driver welfare can be safeguarded simply by the operator following UK best practice.
-ENDS-
