1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140 
Busmen stage big protest over Act
Page 26
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
BUSMEN throughout Great Britain travelled to London earlier this week to protest against the 1980 Transport Act.
The protest was the culmination of a campaign organised by the Transport and General Workers' Union which describes the Act as "a charter for industrial cowboys", and feels it is the "instrument by which the Minister is presiding over the destruction of a vital social service".
Demonstrators lobbied Members of Parliament, and union executive officer Larry Smith presented a nationwide petition against the Act to Transport Minister Norman Fowler.
Union Passenger Services Group Secretary Bill Morris told CM that he felt the bus industry should be seen as a social ser vice to cater for off-peak travellers such as the old, housewives and the young.
He said that the Act, together with financial cutbacks, accelerated a move towards private industry which was only interested in peak-hour travel where profits could be guaranteed.
But he did say that the Union was keen to ensure that in any switch to private enterprise, busmen would continue to be represented by a trade union to look after their interests.
And in the House of Lords last week, Labour's Lord Underhill gave a warning about the problems which had started to grow in bus undertakings.
Men were having to be put out of work, services were having to be cut, and fares were going to be increased, due to the drop in the number of passengers because of the recession.
This sort of policy was going to make it bleak for many of the users of road passenger transport, particularly those in the rural areas and those on the outs
kirts of big cities.
The same position pertained in many of the Passenger Transport Executives, while county councils were finding themselves being squeezed financially, so they were having to cut down grants for bus services.
What were the Government's aims for our public transport services? The Queen's Speech had been silent on the point.