Ministry & BIU Meet Over Bus Service Disruptions
[Updated] Representatives from the Transport Ministry and BIU met yesterday [Feb 18] to discuss what the Ministry termed an “unusually high levels of illnesses at the Department of Public Transportation which has led to a disruption in bus service.”
Earlier this week the DPT said they are experiencing some disruptions, including cancellations of some bus runs, as a result of “increased absenteeism due to illnesses, long term medical leave, training and vacations.”
Today, a Transport Ministry spokesperson said, “Representatives from the Ministry of Tourism Development and Transportation and the Bermuda Industrial Union met yesterday to discuss the current unusually high levels of illnesses at the Department of Public Transportation which has led to a disruption in bus service.
“The attendees included the Minister and Permanent Secretary of Tourism Development and Transport, The BIU President along with other senior ministry and BIU officers.
“The meeting was held to collectively address the current shortage of bus-operators, due to illnesses, that is impacting bus service, with the main focus and objective to create a plan to mitigate possible disruption and inconvenience to the public that use and rely on buses as their primary means of transportation.
“The Department of Public Transport currently has nine bus operators who are out on long term sick leave and in addition the Department has implemented a ban on overtime, both are impacting on the scheduling of bus runs.
“The meeting was very productive and some very good practical solutions were presented and discussed,” added the Ministry spokesperson.
“We do anticipate that in the coming weeks the bus service will experience some delays of certain runs as well as some cancellations, however, we do not expect any major disruption of service and we are confident that this issue will be resolved soonest, as the Ministry and the BIU work through this process together.”
“The DPT is advising the public to please call 292-3854 if they have a question about a bus route. The DPT will continue to keep the public updated on service levels and they sincerely appreciate the public’s patience and understanding at this time.”
Update 5.10pm: The Ministry has clarified that the meeting was held at the request of the President of the BIU.
sounds to me it was work to rule I hope the others that are doing whatever have certificates if not shove the furlough days in their pockets for every day out sick of union members playing the complete donkey nonsense disrupting everybodys day *all of it*
The nonsense here is that the union agreed to the overtime ban and now want to have overtime reintroduced, knowing full well the unspoken practice of some operators who call out sick so their mate can pick up the overtime and vis versa. First, any operator who calls out sick for more than one day in a 14 day period should produce a note from a government approved doctor. Second, since it was the union who approved the overtime ban, they should agree that any extra operator pulled in to cover a shift is paid at regular time, not time and half or double. Lastly, the first names on a stand by list for being called in to cover shifts at regular pay, should be those with the highest non long term sick day usage.
Put the bus service out to tender. Get competitive bids from private operators to run either certain routes or the whole thing.
All public transportation worldwide is subsidized ! We could do it differently but , if we want a well run reliable service you Will pay the price regardless of Who controls it and services may very well get worse if privatized .
In all honesty the prices today aren’t that bad when all things considered. The current monthly pass of $55 or $145 for a three month pass is pretty good when compared with the single ride fares.
Where I see the losses coming for is the free student passes. Especially on the ferry where the students also get tot take their bikes on for free as well thus DPT not just lose out on a passenger fee but also the bike space that could have went to a paying adult. Just my observations.
Excellent post ! With the truth front and center .
You get what you pay for…..what good is a reasonable fare if the bus drivers decide not to work on any particular day or the BIU calls one of its endless meetings
So the free student transportation is a bad idea now Coffee? That was a PLP election promise they actually kept.
The prices are reasonable, agree. And it may be a vote-loser, but re-instituting student fares should be looked asap to reduce losses by DPT.
It’s regrettable that we haven’t had a revised/revamped bus schedule in over a decade, that goes back to a seeming impasse between the drivers/union and DPT/Ministry (not blaming either side here, just a shame that nothing ever got agreed to).
I wouldn’t mind the price if the service was reliable. Waitin 45 minutes for a #8 bus from 4:30 to 5:15 pm in town when there should be at least 7 busses running between that time is ridiculous.
I doubt very much that fares even come close to covering expenses so saying fares aren’t that bad isn’t reasonable.
it is really time for this free student nonsense to be revisited and say students under 12 free and others back to student fares. Surely the PLP know that this was a foolish move.
Good point Family.
Goes out to tender Buses Are Us gets it.
What happens to the current drivers.
Are they fired?
Are they rehired?
Who pays their compensation.
Will the new drivers be represented by a union? (…BIU)
Back to square one.
Shalom.
Call in sick, then your mate get’s called in for overtime. Take 2 sick days a month and rotate amongst yourselves who is getting overtime that week. Result is the worker gets paid overtime for getting called in for their day off and then takes a a sick day as their day off and get’s paid for that to!
The system is flawed, taking a sick day in the civil service is a financial incentive.
I think this is what is going on too. From what I heard there is no overtime pay available and so the set up is not possible. Just people taking their sick days off, but with no one to replace them on overtime…
Hey Lois do you ever get sick….and have to call in sick…?
Can’t speak for Lois, but I haven’t taken a day sick in over 6 years. Must be some bad epidemic going round the buses. Scary thought eh?
We both know that they’re swinging the lead because they’ve got away with it for so long, it’s become part of their work life. I see it every day in Government. people turning up at the office and then running their own business from there. Turning up at 11am, 2 hour lunch, leaving at 3.30 for the day. What’s the point in complaining? No-one ever does anything about it once the Union gets involved.
I have but I was sick! The other day someone was saying that drivers get sick so often because they are dealing with the pubic in a confined area which exposes them to bacteria and viruses? LMAO!
Well, what about doctors, nurses and hospital staff they deal with sick people their entire careers! Can you imagine if they used the same excuses! What about airline pilots and flight attendants, they are in confined spaces for hours each day! Can you imagine if the bus staff were responsible for running an airline!
BIU, BPSU, Ferry and Bus Drivers. Stop with the BS. You lost the general publics support and sympathy years ago you are only making it worse. If you won’t provide reliable and friendly service don’t blame us when you see more privately run mini bus services. You may not care right now, and that is fine. Just don’t expect us to either.
@ Steve Davis: All you’ve written in your letter is head-on.
They shouldn’t be able to carry over any vacation days; also cease paying overtime for them that come in to “fill the gap/s” when a co-worker is unable to make it to work for whatever reason/s.
With money being so damn short a days pay is far better than no pay.(Yes, even if it’s an extra day.)
Well, fire them its a lot of people that need work, so then everyone gets a turn
Lofl at you silver spoon babies !! Who don’t even catch a bus !!
Charity X,Our taxes are still used to pay for this waste of money and horrible service! Are you suggesting that because someone does not take the bus that they have no right to an opinion!
I agree. Have the students start paying fares again.
I agree as well. Seniors Free but students need to pay something, especially during the Summer and holidays. Allow for the option to have a free pass available to any child that has a family that needs assistance.
Not only do kids get free pass in this country but every child in public and private school gets a PVC card saying they are a student? They get these even if they don’t catch the bus or ferry. A waste of money and time. Why? If you have a uniform on, your are obviously a student? For those that may be home schooled, they may request a card. Stop the waste! Think.
I hope there isn’t any more disruptions for the year.
They just want to use their 70 days a year sick plus 30 days carried forward plus 34 days vacation. That’s 27 weeks. Don’t even have to work half a year.
Now that’s bollocks.
Time to go Private,Fire these Lazy drivers!
Break the stranglehold of the biu and Bermuda will be a far better place.
I say hire the BIU to run it! I bet their policies would change quickly if it was their staff and their money on the line. I trust the BPSU and BIU provide the same amount of sick days to the staff that they pay?
They would never take it on.
Privatise. Lease the buses to the company which gets the contract. Would think it would have to be at least a 5 year contract. Government will still have to subsidise the company if fares are to be kept low. Wonder how much the fares cover now? 15%, 20%, 25% of opersting costs? Cutting the crazy benefits & vacation time would go a long way to change those percentages whatever they are.
Have to smile that the Ministry is negotiating with the union. Members of one union negotiating with members of another. Good one. Who gave out all of these rediculous terms of employment in the first place?
Not their money. They don’t care.
*****BINGO*****
Fire the Director! Waste of time. Not able to manage. Just full of talk.
Sooner or later this transportation situation will boil over.
When will we say enough is enough.
When will we say no more sick day ransom money.
What is so wrong with a days work for a days pay.
Questions .
1) When i ride in a Government bus am I fully insured and for how much?
2) Why am i not provided with a seat belt? Buses role over !
It’s cold out. Nobody wants to go to work in this cold, especially when they have so many sick days at their disposal.
It’s like Monty Pythons Flying Circus!! I sure hope the Island does NOT have to go through the same nonsense when the America’s Cup comes to the Island in 2017!! I will appear ridiculous on world-wide TV coverage!!