London bus drivers are said to be almost passing out at the wheel from soaring temperatures inside their vehicles, with a growing risk of fatal collisions.
Officers from Unite the Union made the claim as over 1,500 Arriva North bus drivers from eight depots across north and east London and Essex began two days of industrial action on Friday.
The strike, the first in a number of walk-outs planned between now and mid-October, urges Arriva to replace their air-cooling system with air conditioning.
Drivers have described falling ill with heatstroke as internal temperatures exceeded 40C, while others say they have have narrowly avoided crashes as a result of their working conditions.
Peter Crane, 62, who has driven for Arriva for 22 years, showed a photo of his cab temperature reading at 44C on Friday. He said: “We’re so fed up, we get into the bus, and it’s absolutely boiling.
“It makes you drowsy. It makes you feel a bit uncomfortable. You’re sweating, you’re sticky. It’s like, you get off a plane, you go to Greece or Spain or something.
“It’s like being in a greenhouse. That’s my life. You can’t walk out. It’s not like an air-conditioned office. Not like our bosses, our directors, who are driving by with what we need, air-con in a car, it’s cool.
“We just want the same thing. Why can’t we have air-con? Why can’t we be comfortable and safe?
Asked what his message to Arriva would be, Mr Crane said: “Do you really care about the comfort of your staff? Because there’s no evidence of it. It’s all talk.”
Mr Crane was among around 50 drivers striking outside Wood Green bus garage in north London.
Protesters gathered peacefully with music on, holding placards reading “Too hot to work. Act now!” and union flags, and handing out pamphlets reading “No to heatstroke. Yes to heat strikes” as cars and buses honked horns as they drove by.
Drivers work shifts of up to 10 hours with a break in the middle, and have been told by Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan, via LBC, that they have a right to refuse to drive a bus if it is too hot.
However, striking drivers said that they feared following Sir Khan and Transport for London (TfL) advice because of potential sanctions from their company.
Bus driver Moe Manir, 38, said drivers were being threatened with docked pay or disciplinaries if they refused to drive buses in the intense heat.
He said: “It’s very difficult to concentrate and it’s a safety critical role. It’s very easy that a scooter or cyclist comes out from the side road, and if you’re tired or fatigued because of the excessive heat, you could have a fatality there.
“When you go into a cab, it’s a day and night difference (to a car). You’re in an oven. You know, like, sometimes it feels like it’s in a microwave when it gets so hot.”
Another driver named Peter Skinner, 56, added: “It’s very hard, very exhausting, tiring, it’s awful. I know a young lady personally that works in another garage who passed out as she stepped out a cab, she was pregnant at the time.
“It’s absolutely pressing, isn’t it? How long is it going to be before a driver does pass out on the wheel? Think of the carnage of a 14-tonne bus with 80 people in it, that could make a big mess.”
Unite the Union regional officer Steve Stockwell said that driving conditions this summer have been “some of the worst they’ve ever been”, despite union warnings 18 months ago.
Outlining what changes were being demanded, he said: “There are two parties that need to make a change. TfL send the spec sheets out that the operators have to use, so TFL needs to change the specs.
“But the operators are the employers. So they need to do something to keep our drivers cool, we need a structure to get air conditioning on all our buses.”
Wasim Mohammed, managing director of Arriva London, said: “Extreme heat is creating challenges across many sectors, including London’s bus network. The wellbeing of our colleagues and customers is our top priority, and we are working closely with Transport for London to ensure appropriate support is in place.
“We have already introduced additional support for drivers during hot weather, including regular breaks and welfare checks – and are continuing to invest in long-term improvements, including upgraded air conditioning systems and new buses coming into our fleet.
“These upgrades are complex and being led by TfL as part of its extreme heat taskforce. We urge Unite to come back to the negotiating table and engage with us constructively so we can avoid further disruption.”
