SCOTLAND’S public transport companies have said they are taking their responsibilities to their employees seriously, as coronavirus continues to take its deadly toll on workers dealing with the public.
Across the world, bus drivers, train drivers and people who work on and around public transport have been adversely affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.
Though, overall, the number of passengers has fallen dramatically as millions stay at home, many drivers, cleaners, and maintenance staff are having to put themselves in harm’s way to make sure other key workers can get from A to B.
In London, 21 TfL workers have died so far, 15 of whom were bus drivers.
That’s from a total workforce of 60,000.
By some way of comparison, 34 NHS workers have lost their lives, out of a workforce of 1.5 million.
In New York more than 50 transit workers are now thought to have been killed by the virus, more than triple the combined mortality rates of the New York City police and fire departments.
In Detroit a bus driver died from coronavirus just days after complaining about a passenger coughing on him.
Manuel Cortes, the general secretary of the TSSA trade union for transport workers, told The National that drivers across the UK were putting themselves at risk. He called for action from government and ScotRail.
He said: “We’re aware of rail workers in London and Northern Ireland who’ve been spat at by passengers. The Scottish Government needs to make it clear that there will be zero tolerance of such behaviour.
“Frankly, at this time, spitting could and should be prosecuted as attempted murder. And all staff not essential for the safe running of trains should be stood down without further delay so they are kept out of harm’s way.”
The TSSA said they believed that approximately 900 workers are off sick at the moment – about one in 14 staff.
ScotRail would only say that “a number of colleagues” were in self-isolation across the business.
They’ve removed conductors and ticket examiners and no longer sell tickets on board trains to avoid any unnecessary contact, and have stopped on-train hospitality services.
Meanwhile, CalMac told The National that they had 161 employees off, either due to Covid-19 self isolation or because they were “shielding”.
That’s 10% of all employees but down from the 206 who were off at the end of March.
CalMac’s managing director, Robbie Drummond said: “We took a decision early in this crisis that all non-essential CalMac staff should work from home. Staff essential to keeping lifeline services to island communities running are doing a fantastic job, and we have taken several steps to ensure their safety and the safety of those limited passengers still travelling with us.”
First Group, who have 3000 staff across Scotland, said just two of their workers had so far tested for coronavirus. One was based in the company’s HQ and was the partner of someone working in the NHS. The other was a driver who has now fully recovered and is back at work.
Andrew Jarvis from the company said: “We have 13% of our employees shielding at the moment thanks to a swift implementation of the government’s advice on vulnerable groups. Following the drop in demand and the government advice we have a mix of people home working or being furloughed in order to protect jobs and to minimise
the risk to those delivering our essential services.”
Scotland is in lockdown. Shops are closing and newspaper sales are falling fast. It’s no exaggeration to say that the future of The National is at stake. Please consider supporting us through this with a digital subscription from just £2 for 2 months by following this link: www.thenational.scot/subscribe. Thanks – and stay safe.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here