Drivers say they’re afraid of collapsing while driving in the extreme heat
A summer of intense heatwaves has pushed bus drivers to their boiling point.
Over 1,500 Unite union members in north London launched a programme of strikes on Friday over dangerously hot working conditions.
Workers employed by Arriva North London are demanding that the buses they drive are fitted with effective air conditioning. Arriva’s buses have air cooling systems instead of air conditioning, but they only reduce temperatures by two or three degrees.
Drivers on the picket line told Socialist Worker that their cabs regularly reach temperatures of above 40 degrees.
“I’m afraid of collapsing while I’m driving the bus,” said one bus driver on the picket line at Wood Green garage.
She had to call the controller because the heat was unbearable. “I told him that I was drenched. I was so wet—the sweat was dripping off me. It gets in your eyes and makes it hard to drive,” she said.
“It can be frightening. I’ve been driving and felt myself not being able to breathe.”
The controller said she could take a break when needed, but she felt under pressure to keep driving in case she got into trouble with her boss.
A recent survey of bus drivers by Unite found that 83 percent fear telling companies that they were fatigued in case they were disciplined.
Drivers said they had to sit on towels and newspapers—instead of a pool of their own sweat—for the duration of their 10 hour shifts.
“You can’t drive and that’s the honest truth. We’re not well enough to drive under these conditions,” another bus driver told Socialist Worker.
Another striker told Socialist Worker, “You wouldn’t even treat dogs like this”.
“It’s not even the managers I’m angry at, it’s the men who own this company,” he said. “Those people who give themselves huge bonuses and say there’s no money for air-con on the buses.
“They aren’t the ones sitting in that heat though are they? They’re up in nice air-conditioned offices and driving cars with cold air on their face.
“They don’t know what it’s like to work for five hours at a time in nearly 50 degrees. It’s not them, so they don’t care.”
But he added that workers striking will force them to take notice and act.
More than 40 routes in north London were affected by the strike, with little to no Arriva North buses operating.
“If we’re not driving, then we’re not making them money,” he said.
“Today, we’ve hit their pockets. And we will be hitting them again next Tuesday when we’re back out.
“The question is how long can they hold out, because we’re not blinking first. This heat is only going to get worse every year, so we need this sorted now.”
There was lots of support from local Unite branches, bus drivers from other garages and from other workers on strike.
Lynn, who is one of the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) strikers, joined the bus drivers picket line in Wood Green to show solidarity.
“It’s ridiculous that workers even need to go on strike for fair pay or safe working conditions,” she said.
“The UN’s climate change committee has already made it clear that we’re not prepared for the effects of rising temperatures on workplaces. And yet we still have no law about maximum working temperatures,” she said.
One Unite rep told Socialist Worker that workers were confident strikes would lead to victory.
“Arriva isn’t listening to us so we’ve had no choice but to strike,” they said. “But as you can see our members are very determined to win and people feel very strongly that they will.”
Support the strikers and show them you stand with them in their fight for safety—and against climate catastrophe.
Unite members at Arriva London North garages at Barking, Edmonton, Enfield, Grays, Palmers Green, Stamford Hill, Tottenham and Wood Green will be continuing their action next week. Find more details here
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