BIU President: Bus Drivers Sick Leave
[Updated with video] This afternoon [Apr.25] Bermuda Industrial Union [BIU] President Chris Furbert held a press conference during which he sought to clarify some aspects of statements made about bus drivers, and specifically sick days taken.
Mr Furbert said he wished to address two points made by Minister Terry Lister; the bus drivers sick leave and comments made about the new bus roster. He also said that certain comments made by the Minister were offensive, insulting and he owes the membership an apology.
As many locals are aware, there have been daily bus cancellations recently. Transport Minister Terry Lister said that the bus cuts are due to financial reasons, and with the recent budget reduction, the Transport Ministry made a decision not to pay overtime unless they “really, really had to.”
When asked if he felt if any of the bus drivers were calling in sick on purpose, the Minister said he felt there “was an element of that,” but that most bus drivers come to work as expected, and do their jobs well. However, Minister Lister also mentioned that last year there were a few bus operators who called in sick 20, 30 and even 40 times.
The audio of Mr Furbert’s statement is below:
At today’s press conference Mr Furbert said the BIU has asked for quarterly print outs of sick leave for “the better part of 10 years now, so we can sit down and deal with those possible abuses of possible sick time. If Minister Lister hasn’t paid attention, that’s a negotiated benefit.”
Mr Furbert also said that by not providing coverage when bus operators are out sick, the Minister is “punishing the public, he is punishing tourists, for saying if someone calls in sick , even if they have a doctor’s certificate, he will not cover their work, and that is morally wrong.”
Mr Furbert also provided copies of documents specifying sick time taken in 2010. The documents show that in 2010 there was $469,595 in annual costs in certified sick pay, and $187,993 in uncertified sick pay.
The copies are below, click to enlarge to a larger size for increased clarity:
Update: Video of Mr Furbert’s statement:
Black on black….did I comment?
So. 873 Uncertified sick days plus 2,183 certified sick days. That makes over 3,000 sick days, a year including by Mr Furbert’s own admission today, people who call in sick when they are not sick. Is it any wonder it’s a mess?
When you call in sick and you’re not sick, that is fraud.
Wow..must be a dangerous job with all the certified sick leave. When you add up holidays, paid vacation, union stopages for meetings and strikes ..how many days a year do SOME of these guys actaully work. Its hard for most of us honest to symapthize with these bus operaters and feel like they deserve more. The only thing I agree with is that MOST polititians deserve less. It would be interesting if we could see a chart comparing civil servants, to private sector workers for days off. Civil servants and union workers in general have for decades abused the system by using strength in numbers. Just drive past any W&E road work jobs where workers openly sit around doing very little and dont care who is watching. 8 men on a crew digging a trench usually means 2 working in the trench, 1 turning stop sign…4 watching and 1 sitting in truck sleeping. Sorry not all of the crews operate like this but unfortunately many do and anyone that spends any time driving around the island and have witnessed W&E building a wall, sidewalk, digging a trench you ge the picture know exactly what I mean.
Sorry, I know we dont like to hear it but before you disagree…wait a day …drive around the island tomorrow and you will seee what I mean.
Reason for dismissal anywhere else…but union job. Then again driving a Ferry while under the influence, verbally and physically attacking a passenger or member of public, drug usage etc.. is as well. Hard for Joe public to sympathize. If you have ever waited for a bus or ferry that didnt come because there was a last minute strike or union sick out and had to catch a taxi (that I couldnt afford) to Sandys from Hamilton just to get home. Or if you kids were left stranded because these guys dont care enough aout anyone else. Hard to sympathize with thm. I hate painting them all with the same brush because there are some good, hard working drivers…but its the members that is what UNION means ..Together As One.
While we’re on the subject, this does cast in a new light the clown last month who nearly got fired for working while out “sick”. Part of the defense of his fraud was that he was a long-term employee. Turns out he doesn’t get 14 days a year like mere mortals, he gets 14 weeks a year PLUS whatever he carries over. I don’t remember that little detail coming out when it was all in the papers.
What bunch of lazy spongers
So there’s going to be another strike this week, I’m guessing. These guys have Bermuda by the short and curlies, as they say.
Let them strike for two or three weeks…the public purse wont have to pay. They can see how much the union will support them (monetarily) then. Then give them their raise…at the end of the year the weeks unpaid less the raise…the public will be ahead.
Privatize the Buses and Dump the Unions!
No More Nonsense or Lame Assed Excuses then!
Hire Philipino Bus drivers (you will soon I’m sure). They’ll be on time and off weed.
And getting lost…..lol
Philipinos are dangerous on the road been through to many exeperiences with them nearly causing road accidents…no way do i want them driving buses…LOL
Wow, xenophobic bigotry… nice
i’m sure bermuda can hire the best ones out there!
Nice. Typical Bermudian holier than though mentality.
That’s funny. Cause most of the deaths on our roads seem to be majority Bermudian.
Continue on…
Nice time and reason for Kim Wilson to break out the ankle monitor bracelets for some of the most prolific of these rascals ;also house arrest or termination for extended sick leave .
WOW!!!!!!!!! I have no words – what a waste of our $!!
see – you reap what you sow. i.e. the idiot who frauded PTB and was then given his job back!! *SMH
so, does the word ‘INTEGRITY” mean anything to anyone?!
what a bunch of workshy tossers.
How many people work for ptb? What is the percentage of workers out sick every day? We could afford to hire a nurse to look after all these sick people.
Is the percentage of sick people in ptb in line with other government and / or union workers?
Are the drivers sick more often due to their contact with the public? If this is the cases can we put up a barrier between them and the public? Encase them in a plastic cocoon!
Im pretty sure Mr. Furbert wouldnt have his position if he had the same number of uncertified sick days as these drivers. Or what do you think would happen if his secretary had the same amount of uncerified sick days! He / she would be gone…why because he wouldnt be able to rely on them and its not fair to expect the union to pay for 2 secretaries because on any given day one might be sick.
Mr. Furbert spoke well, but he kept saying the Minister……….sorry Furbs but we both know, you need to point the finger at Premier Cox. She is the one who is creating this mess.
She should have started this 3 years ago instead of waiting for her appointment as the Chief. I really thought she was going to do something better then choke the economy with her new diet plan.
Premier Cox you better re-think about your economic plan because it’s only going to get worst.
Nice to know that your not cutting your paycheck! : (
Nuff said. Here, here.
Though it is far to late for the Premier to cut ministers’ salaries NOW because it would be a clear “victory” for these rogue unionists. The government cannot possibly bend under union pressure AGAIN. The P should’ve cut salaries a LONG time ago. She also should not have named (and paid) two EXTRA ministers thereby having to create two EXTRA portfolios and pay two EXTRA sets of staff (permanent secretaries, admin assistants…the list goes on). We are in a bad state. She’s gotta fix it.
The country has been systematically destroyed over the last decade and now we have no funds for “public” transport let alone anything else but it’s readily valailable to ensure GP vehicles are running smoothly, thank you very much.
Whatever happned to the FREE public transport we were promised ?
Oh! I forgot that too is systematically disappearing, slowly but surely.
To the honest, faithful and hard working bus drivers, keep up the good work….it IS truely apppreciated.
They should do what Reagan did with the traffic controllers. Fire them all then re-hire the ones who want to come back and behave.
Here’s the answer. Point. Blank.
Agree!
All that “free”" promises was for the vote! They were warned that it would lead to doom but hey, it was the opposition, what do they know!
I came accross my shirt that I saved from the first election win! It says MAKE IT HAPPEN – VOTE PLP. I guess I should have asked…what was going to happen? I certainly never forcast this mess!
Strangely enough . I am feeling better about the party and our country now that Premeir Cox is in charge…she inherited this mess and was left holding the bag, but at least for the first time in years I feel that she sees the big picture…and after all the smoke clears and the dust settles, we will be in a better place.
Mr Ferburt comes out swinging for the bus drivers.
Back in 2008 the hotels started putting pressure on the hotel workers. Mr Ferburt told us to agree, agree and agree. The hotel management told us to drink tap water, while they drank wine, champagne and 100 year old brandy, they ate lobster and thick steaks, they wrote off bills for their wives, kids, friends and family.
We worked with old broken down equipment, we worked on flooded kitchen floors in wet shoes and socks and we worked with roaches and mice. We ate leftovers from previous days buffets, wash our own work clothes, lived 4 to a room.
Where was Mr Ferburt
I just think it is staggering that Mr. Furbert can sit there and smugly say that the Minister is inconveniencing the public and that his decision to cut the service is morally wrong. WHAT ?!!? Isn’t that EXACTLY what the union does whenever they feel like it? Where is your bleeding heart for the public and tourists then ? The union cuts service to the public to defend folly ! The drunk ferry driver who smashed the ferry and injured passengers, the lying, time stealing bus driver, cheating the people and the list goes on and on.
Utter nonsense.
Somebody is going to be very disappointed with the result. Chris F is very smug yes – but then he’s had tremendous success in the past in getting what he demands. Like any spoiled child, he can stamp his feet, scream and shout and get unreasonable rewards for such actions. Government, and particularly Terry Lister have enabled this by giving him all he wanted. Whether this is the time that Lister will stand firm – or not is to be seen.
The drunk ferry pilot. the sick bus driver caught on the other job – we all remember these and the pathetic way you folded.
So Terry, listen up. You can continue to enable this spoiled child syndrome or you can finally say enough. Some advise: Be a parent for once. Tell Furbert he is grounded!!
Bermuda is watching.
Not all Minister Lister’s fault. Premier Cox “ordered” him to settle last time when that idiot should’ve been fired for working nights and being sick days. And for fraud. Twice. But, I digress.
THIS time, Minister Lister, please stay strong. Put this foolishness to a stop. We are all tired of it. Show us some of the “testicular fortitude” that our Minister of Finance continues to demonstrate a lack of. Let’s go please. Enough is enough.
Personally, I think that we should boycott the buses and put some of these sour louts out of work. I travel by pedal cycle and bus and try to ride the bus as little as possible because I feel complicit when I support this kind of ridiculous behavior. And I won’t even talk about the shoddy service when I was living in St. Davids. Some of the bus drivers are truly pleasant, professional service providers. Others act as if they haven’t a clue that they are service providers. Just typing this is making my blood boil. BOYCOTT THEM, I say. I have lost all respect for Chris Furbert.
“Put some of these louts out of work” Surely you jest, these guys probably have the best job security in Bermuda!
Obviously there is a scam going on here….I’ll call in sick today, so you get called into work and get time and a half, then you call in sick next week so they call me in for time and a half……
So if an accountant in not qualified to do surgery, how is a union boss qualified to be an accountant? Just saying… Last time I checked Chris was a dock worker.
Lol,lol all dis madness in Bermy,mercy,mercy, thats why my Mobylette is always tuned and the gas tank topped up. Public Transport hell to da nawwwwww, I rather walk, rain, blow or shine. Spare me Bro Chris, spare me…..
No wonder bus drivers work other jobs while on sick leave. 3 months sick leave a year, I could find a nice little hustle as well.
The numbers are insane. How many are in employ and show me vacation statistics. Obviously they dont call in sick whilst on vacation. Let’s see the deal. You have how much money dissappearing per DAY? And I can get a doctors note whenever I want it. Anyone can. We all know it is a phone call and maybe a visit and we can get 7 days off without even asking for it. The Union has done great things in the past, but now the pendulum has swung completely in the opposite direction and it is harming the public. It is making the worker a joke. Tell me a public employee now who you can say built this country…….. the old lines won’t work anymore. Now the public employee milks this country and the country is emaciated and the worker is fat. Or fatter than most! Guarranteed job safety? are you kidding me???!!!
Right now the working man and the small employer is a joke. A disrespected fool. Government workers are the elite now. Too bad they can’t hire more. I could use a guaranteed job with tons of vacation and sick days and paid further education etc. Un-believeable. How is the performance going? Doesnt matter – you get to keep your job for you deserve a job and a raise. That is Utopia.
The small working man is a sucker… and he feels like one.
Time to fire the lot of them and while they are at it get rid of Union Chief Furbert. While hiring new drivers make sure they have a positive attitude. Too many of the bus drivers are just downright RUDE.