Unite driver suspended after refusing to drive unsafe vehicle after engineering management ignores danger posed by worn tyres
Union posts photographic evidence of tyres deemed ‘safe’ by cash-strapped Management
September 22nd: Unite Regional Officer, Davy McMurray, has called on Translink management to come clean on the devastating impact of austerity cuts on safety in the public transport company:
“Our union is committed to defend public transport in Northern Ireland and whilst we continue to engage constructively to find genuine offsetting savings to safeguard frontline services and jobs, our members will not stand idly by when they have concerns over passenger safety.
“In the interests of public accountability, we are posting on our webpage some pictures taken by one of our members of a tyre on a vehicle that was adjudged by Translink engineering management to be safe to drive. The vehicle’s driver was suspended without pay after refusing to take it on the road although she has been reinstated following Unite representations on the issue to senior management.
“Our fear is that this is not an isolated incident and that management are intent on turning a blind eye to safety concerns in order to avoid incurring costs and to live within the reduced budget provided by the Stormont Executive. While we recognise the insurmountable challenges posed by the severity of austerity cuts, our drivers and engineers will not be silent when passenger safety is compromised”, Mr McMurray concluded.
Photos of the tyres are available at:
https://unitetheunionireland.org/?attachment_id=1540
https://unitetheunionireland.org/?attachment_id=1542
I am an x driver and this is not the first time translink put busses out after being booked off for defects. This happened me in Dungannon but as I am a qualified mechanic I knew what I was talking about it also happened in Belfast with a manager and garage trying to send me out in a bus with a defect on the M1