Union Meeting For Bus Drivers Finishes
[Updated] It appears that the meeting for bus drivers held at Bermuda Industrial Union headquarters ended at approximately 2pm today [May 29], with dozens of bus operators seen streaming out of the building at 2pm.
The meeting started at 10.30am, and was due to end at 12.30pm, and was held to discuss the introduction of a new work schedule.
While the bus service was suspended, a few taxi drivers could be seen picking up passengers from the Hamilton Bus Terminal. Union officials declined to make a statement at this time, however we will update as able.
Update 5.40pm: The Ministry of Transport issued a statement saying “they are waiting for formal notification of the outcome of a meeting held today with the Bermuda Industrial Union [BIU] Department of Public Transport Division [DPT] concerning the implementation of a new bus schedule.
“The meeting was held earlier today, Tuesday, May 29, 2012 starting at 10:30 am and concluding at approximately 1:30 pm with the stated purpose being to present and vote on the introduction of a new work schedule.
“DPT Director Mr. Dan Simmons has been informed by the BIU Division organizer that the membership has agreed in principle with the new work schedule and a subsequent internal meeting will be held with DPT management to discuss specific details.
“The Ministry of Transport apologies for any inconvenience the interruption today’s service may have caused.”
Check those bus drivers rushing back to work!
Yup! Seems like the bus drivers new job is to hold up the BIU headquarters wall while others give them suggestions of how to do it. I also see that others have been sensible enough to stroll out in the middle of the road to direct the traffic just incase the wall becomes too heavy for the others to hold & collapses.
You guys are nuts! lol
Give them a break…they were waiting for a bus to pick them up…but there was a meeting or something going on so it never came.
A new work schedual…..bwahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
This explains why I was still stranded at a bus stop @ 2.30pm. Way to go BIU. The passengers from 3 cruise ships thank you as well.
I think there were actually 4 cruise ships in Bermuda today – 3 at Dockyard and 1 in Hamilton. I don’t suppose any of the passengers are union members.
So 4 cruise ships with say 3,000 passengers each makes 12,000 potential irate and annoyed visitors to Bermuda. It seems this is just a joke to the you and the BIU.
When 2013 comes around and there are no cruise ships, no visitors and no KFC the BIU will be able to take care of their unemployed, or don’t you care about that either?
3 ships in Dockyard LaWerne? You know very little about our tourism industry which I guess is why you and your BIU “brothers and sisters” don’t have a problem disrupying people’s lives and vacations. You thinking is a scary thought.
Most countries have Unions. I searched google , because they say you can find anything on Google, to see if I could locate another story of a union anywhere else in the world – stopping bus service so they could have a meeting about their new schedule. Couldn’t find one. But these stories were amusing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/06/nyregion/06union.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-09/strip-club-bills-paid-with-union-cash-as-corruption-cases-rise.html
http://nlpc.zubrcom.net/union-corruption-update?page=70
I am hoping, wishing, trusting this will be the last of meetings for awhile.
And there is a Ship in town, just arrived! Great timing!
The stranded visitors will be sure to tell all their friends about the “strike” and how it ruined their stay in Bermuda. Well done BIU and your efforts to destroy what little is left.
They won’t get the message until there is pain in the belly……
And…..by then, it’ll be too late!
Pathetic – Honestly No proper planning what so ever.
And Chris Furbert is a member of our Tourism Board !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fired him immediately!!!!!!!
THIS IS STUPID.. ITS ALMOST 4:30 AND THERE HAS YET TO BE A BUS COME INTO STDAVIDS. SAW STUDENTS FROM STDAVIDS PRIMARY AND CLEARWATER MIDDLE SCHOOL WALKING ALL THE WAY TO #1 GATE…. ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is this real life ???? My daughter is still waiting for the bus to pick her up from school and its 4.30… WTF… GET IT TOGETHER BERMUDA.
How would you know at 3:34 p.m. that your daughter is at the bus stop at 4:30. Either your clock is wrong or Bernews’ clock is wrong. And the person who posted after you posted at 3:54 p.m. Funny!!
Clueless LaVerne.
I believe that the comment is timestamped using the time on the computer posting the comment… so if the computer is configured with Eastern Daylight Savings time, then it will display that time. So I believe the 3:34pm above really is 3:34pm EDT = 4:34pm ADT.
What’s really funny is that you think there’s 3 cruise ships at Dockyard .. LOL
King’s Wharf can only do TWO ships at a time.
The next time you gaze out to the West End from (maybe) your North Shore verandah with its panoramic views , or maybe that of friends , look a little more closely. That other dark blue vessel is the cable ship .
Oh be patient.
You guys can’t go to the meetings, right?
This is a blue collar issue. None of you know anything about this stuff.
This is not about you/us.
It’s about them.
The money is gone.
Where is it.
Vote PLP and follow the money trail.
All local (?) Lodges and Leopards Club up fpr offering.
Where are……………….
And the Government will not step in and stop Chris Furbert from pulling these stunts!!!!!!This Island is doomed. You all need to sit up and pay attention.
VOTE OBA!!!!
Anything has to be better than these PLP mouth breathers .
What would happen if the schools and general public decided to use alternative modes of transportation. A bus boycott for 20 days will get the attention of government.. The clergy of our churches have the influence and the faith of their congregations to make this happen. Lead by example! Enough talk; we can show you better than we can tell you.
Bernews, it really must be something wrong with your clock. Everyone that’s posted a time of an incident, the incident happened after their time of posting.
It really must be something wrong with you. Ease up woman.
That’s because we can all see the future LaVerne, and it doesn’t look good for Bermuda.
“Bernews, it (there* (your a columnist, yes?) really must be something wrong with your clock (No f@ckin sh!t! You only realize this when it convieniences your moronic comments). Everyone that’s posted a time of an incident, the incident happened after their time of posting. (I honestly gave you the benefit of the doubt and assumed you were a bit more intelligent than that, if not you should hit up some of these posters to get a WOW factor in the plp since apparenly they’re all psycics, seriously though, I thought you had an ounce of intelligence there but once again I’m f@ckin wrong damnit!)
Faverne Lurbat
Laverne, I can honestly say that I understand where you come from when you do and say some of the most ridiculous things. Seriously, I do. You’re looking after yourself and your own. It’s only natural.
However, that does not excuse the theft of the people’s money and I can’t respect you for supporting the nonsense that goes on while there are people who are hungry on our island. And you know it’s true!
Those in power are living COMFORTABLY!!! Which is an UNDERSTATEMENT!!! While our fellow BERMUDIANS are struggling to feed their CHILDREN!!!
Take a look in the mirror and make a REAL and HONEST assessment of the way our government has handled our money and our country’s image on the global scale. It’s sad.
I will bring change to Bermuda whether it be by the power of my vote or by stepping up to the plate and fighting for the opposition! However I can help fight the battle to save Bermuda from poor governance! I will be here and I will be ready!!!
Laverne…their clock is an hour behind before you go chopping down posters! That’s you all the time… jumping the gun before you get your facts straight.
@ Laverne Furbert: Do you even catch the bus? Keep your two cents to yourself..you always have something to say, so for once, just be quiet and go brown-nose somewhere. The fact of the matter remains that this was a stupid thing for them to do in the first place,
Cbris Furbert needs to go. The P.L.P need to go. And you, Laverne Furbert, need to go with them. Enough already!
LV: Who cares what frickin time it was. Your union disrupted public transport YET AGAIN. It is irresponsible in the extreme, and CF should be fired from the Tourist Board. He is a facking embarrassment to us all and a danger to Bermuda’s tourist product.
You obviously don’t know the time of day……..
And for the record, Laverne, I happen to work in St. Davids’, and I knock off @3pm. I too was at the pink and blue pole where my bus usually comes to transport me.. It was a no-show. I was still waiting getting close to five(thank-goodness for my blackberry and all of its wonderful games and features to keep me company). I finally gave up and I too started walking, still didn’t see a bus, inbound nor southbound. I happened to get a ride to the Number 1 Gate. So Bernews did indeed get it right. Nothing wrong with their clocks. There’s defnitely something wrong with the B.I.U., Chris Furbert and you.(You must all have cuckoo clocks). Put yourself in the shoes of people who depend on public transportation. You wouldn’t be so quick to defend the actions of the B.I.U, of that I am sure.
They were supposed to finish at 12:30, so my wife scheduled her work around that. She is self employed, works part-time and thanks to the BIU, she lost a day’s pay yesterday.
Then they wonder why so many people dislike the Union…
Had to put my employee in a taxi to make work for 12:00 noon as her sole mode of transportation is the BUS!
Should I forward the taxi receipt to the BIU in hopes of being compensated??
Yes, small business owner who relies on my one and only staff member (BERMUDIAN)?
Just another step backwards when we are all trying to keep our heads above water.
Baffled in Bermuda!!
All those who had to take a taxi or pay for their employee’s taxi should forward the taxi receipt to the department of public transportation. Also all those with bus passes should demand a refund for services undelivered. The department of public transport could have demanded a better more efficient meeting time from biu but didn’t & still are getting paid for services not rendered. The department of public transport should also make sure services are done in a timely & courteous manner but don’t do this either.
*not southbound; I meant outbound..
Lets not just blame chris furbert because derrick burgess, bus drivers & dispatchers know who their job it is to serve but allow things like this to happen without going against it. All of them have the island at ransom because if something was done about this they would strike.
There are a lot of bus drivers who are extremely rude to passengers & when tourist ask them questions they act like they are inconvenienced & its not their job to cater to them. They will also be unapologetically late on their routes leaving passengers waiting or go to the other extreme & are 5 to 10 minutes early on their route & leave passengers running after the bus as they speed past. A schedule is a schedule & if they are to keep it at every half hour they should make it a point to be at each stop on the dot not too early or too late. The dispatchers are the problem also because they send these busses out at the wrong times & even if they see a passenger running for a bus that is moved a few inches away from the dock instead of telling them to wait for the passenger that is still on time they direct the driver to keep backing out. Then to top it all off when someone complains they are rude & sarcastic to them. The rudest dispatcher that I’ve spoken to is named clark trott who claims that our transportation system is is the best in the world. Ya Right! LMAO! Yes sir I know your name I if you or one of your mates is reading this I assure you & them once chris furbert & plp are out I will personally make sure you are jobless & that no one will strike for you when you are fired. This is the only reason some of you still have a job but karma will always swing back around especially when the next ones elected want to keep their seats.
@D’REA: I say yes, send them the receipt for reimbursement… Everyone who was inconvenienced yesterday should get some compensation for the taxis they were forced to catch whilst the BIU held this “oh so important” meeting. Don’t forget your receipts, people! Maybe it should come out of Chris and Lavernes’ pockets..lol.
Whatever happened to that bus driver that didn’t let the person on with a wheelchair. I hope he was reprimanded. Probably not!
I am so thankful for the basic rules of employment instilled in me by my Father.
AN honest days work for An Honest days Pay, and to think the Union is or was trying to get a 35hr work week when most members do not even work 5hrs a given day(Respectfully I said Most).Not many people know the reason for these meetings to occur during working hours its mearly beacause when these meetings were held after work hours the turn out figures showed only a 10% or 15% attendance rate. During working hours the members get paid to attend their own Union meetings in fact they even have to sign in for two reasons (1)Accountability (2)Monetary. It is very unfortunate that Management continues to pay these members to attend their own Meetings. If it were total dedication to an organization as it used to be than after working hours would not be an issue for membership, as a matter of fact if it were not fot the automatic deduction feature within the payroll system the Union membership would be depleted within six months for all who are not dedicated as was 1 day and not 2 day.