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Latest L.T.E. Offer Turned Down
Page 54
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LONDON TRANSPORT'S Routemaster troubles are not yet over. Despite the recommendation of their own leaders, a delegate conference of London busmen has turned down the latest offer by the L.T.E.
• As a result, the introduction of more of these larger buses ha.s had to be put off for the third time and £.1 m.-worth of buses continues to stand idle in the garages.
The latest offer, as reported in last week's The Commercial Motor, was that Routemaster crews should share 45 per cent of the savings achieved by the bigger buses in the form of higher pay and shorter duties. This was turned down by 74 votes to 34.
Although in the negotiations the chief obstacle to agreement had been the size of the bus crews' share of the savings, at the conference the main objection to the offer was that it would not be shared equally among all busmen, irrespective of the type of bus worked.
As one delegate pointed out at the meeting, a 19-year-old "clippie" working on a 64-seater Routemaster could earn more than the driver of a 56-seater RT bus who had 35 years' service behind him.
So when the offer had been rejected, the conference decided to seek a share of the savings for all London's 38,000 busmen. And, since each man's share at present would work out at only about ls. a week, they decided to ask for a share of the savings which the new services are expected to make in three years' time.
This proposal, which is hardly likely to be entertained by London Transport, was due to be put to L.T.E. chiefs at another meeting this week.
Another setback for London Transport was a decision by the conference that they. wanted the question of the Routernasters to be treated separately from that of the one-man buses which the L.T.E. want to introduce on outer suburban routes. They have already succeeded in separating two other proposals—the introduction of experimental " standee " buses and the raising of the speed limit on some derestricted roads.
The deep-seated suspicions of the busmen are well illustrated in an article in The Record, journal of the T.G.W.U. Mr. Terry Allen, secretary of Bromley Bus Branch and a member of the Central Road Services Committee, complains that each wage increase has been almost nullified when the next set of schedules have been introduced. For every cut in services has led to a deterioration of the pay packet, he claims. That is why an improvement in conditions is wanted rather than extra pay, to offset the extra work of operating the larger buses.
Perkins Conversions for U.S. Buses ACONVERSION kit enabling Perkins 6.305 89 b.h.p. diesel engines to be installed in Marmon Herrington and Ford Transit buses is being marketed in the U.S.A. by the Crown Coach Corporation of Los Angeles, by arrangement with the Marine and Industrial Division of the Chrysler Corporation, which markets Perkins engines in the U.S.A.
Cardiff Trolleys Go THE first stage in the replacement of Cardiff's trolleybuses will come this month when the vehicles will be withdrawn from the Roath depot to the Tremorfa route, which is to be extended for the benefit of employees at the Rover works at Pengam. They will be replaced by eight motorbuses and, later, by six new vehicles which will come into operation early next year.