TfL has ‘duty’ to find jobs for 400 conductors under threat
Transport for London (TfL) has a duty to find employment for the 400 conductors on the new Routemaster buses who face losing their jobs.
The call for redeployment of the conductors – and no compulsory redundancies - by TfL and the 18 bus companies operating in the capital came from Unite, the country’s largest union, today (Monday 11 July).
Unite will be holding talks with London’s deputy mayor for transport Val Shawcross at city hall on Thursday (14 July) to strongly make the case that, with the success of London buses and a growing population in the capital, jobs should be found for the conductors.
Unite said that the conductors should not be made scapegoats for ‘the vanity project’ of the last mayor Boris Johnson who insisted there should be conductors on the new Routemasters.
Unite regional secretary for London, Pete Kavanagh said: “London buses are a success story and the network looks ready to expand with an increasing population – therefore, there should be plenty of jobs available for the 400 conductors.
“There is no way that these conductors should be made the scapegoats because of the vanity project of Boris Johnson when he was mayor.
“The individual operator cannot be allowed to claim there are no replacement jobs within their own company.
“We will be having talks with the deputy mayor for transport Val Shawcross on Thursday where we will be seeking a pan-London solution to today’s announcement.
“TfL and the bus firms have a strong duty to find alternative employment for the conductors, whether being retrained to drive a passenger carrying vehicle (PVC) or in another suitable role.
“We will not countenance compulsory redundancies – that’s our bottom line.”
