Select a region
CT Plus will be meeting with bus drivers this Sunday to get feedback on its new driver duty cards and scheduler.
Should all of the proposed changes be agreed upon by the drivers, any vote for strike action will be deferred by 14 days, CT Plus said, to allow for a period of implementation. But until then, islanders will be waiting in suspense to know whether the service will be running on Monday morning.
This all comes as local bus drivers struck out at CT Plus over their long hours, small breaks and passenger safety. The drivers have said they may strike on Monday 2 July if their conditions are not immediately improved.
Speaking to the media, drivers have said they feel strike action is the only place they have left to turn as they do not feel their concerns are being taken seriously.
A similar incident occurred in 2013, when the drivers staged a walkout and left the island without a service for a day.
Late yesterday afternoon, CT Plus' Kevin Hart issued a statement on the matter: "When I met Mr Howie [a driver] this Monday to explore his concerns, I promised to return on Thursday with the new duty cards our scheduler had been working on. When I did so, Mr Howie refused to meet with me.
"However we understand that another driver is reviewing the driver duty cards in conjunction with the drivers at the proposed meeting on Sunday and giving feedback to CT Plus on Monday.
"The driver has confirmed that deferring any industrial action is the best way forward proposing a 14 day period for implementation of all subsequently agreed changes."
Mr Hart also said he wanted to set the record straight about how exactly the bus drivers operated - he said CT Plus use UK domestic drivers' hours regulations and stick to them.
"We have nine different rota patterns that aim to balance the needs of the service and driver choice, some four day weeks, some five; some days longer, some shorter. The average number of hours worked on the combination of driver rotas is 46 hours 36 minutes.
"Difficulties with housing and population mean there are vacancies – which means overtime is available. There is no compulsory overtime – it is entirely voluntary and very popular. Drivers who routinely request lots of overtime do work very hard indeed, but is always with in regulated hours and entirely up to them. Safety is of the utmost importance to us. No one is asked to drive at any time if they feel unfit to do so."
One of the claims made by the bus drivers was that their time to complete allocated routes had been reduced - Mr Hart said this was "simply incorrect".
Express will update readers on how the meeting on Sunday went as soon as possible.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.