In Your Opinion
Page 49
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Sack the Militants!
nNCE again the long-suffering public in London are being held 1.-1 to ransom by the busmen, due to the latest ban on overtime. Whilst I would agree that the intervention, at the invitation of London Transport, of private busmen on several of the axed bus routes has been welcomed by the residents of the areas concerned, I have some reservations about the wisdom of allowing private operators to continue on a long-term basis, as suggested by your writer Derck Moses last week.
Only if their services were subject to regular scrutiny to ensure that they were providing at least the standard of service that LTB would ideally like to provide could permanent private operation be acceptable.
For all its faults, London Transport does set a very high standard, both in actual "theoretical" services and in the vehicles operated on those services. The tragedy is that circumstances which London Transport claims to be beyond its control prevent the Board from carrying out these operations to the full.
It might well be that the Board has lost control of its staff— although this is a situation that ought never to have arisen—but it strikes me that the real root of the trouble is the body of militants who lead the busmen into these almost endless disputes with the management.
Very few of the busmen I have spoken to really believe in the latest overtime ban—they would rather have the extra money. And we have read of several cases where bus crews have worked overtime in defiance of their leaders.
There seems to be a growing unrest amongst the crews, the majority of whom are anxious to get back to overtime and restday working. Surely it is significant that we read in the daily Press this week that resignations of busmen are running at the rate of about 80 a week—twice the normal.
The answer is obvious—the majority of busmen must take the law into their own hands and sack their militant leaders! Only then will their claim that they are taking action to improve the standard of service to passengers be translated into fact.
R. RAMSAY, London N14
Fault Finding THE BBC radio report of the buyer of a commercial vehicle offering a challenge of a £1,000 reward to the agent who could supply a near-perfect vehicle—one free of the teething complaints of two or three vehicles bought and rejected—is yet another way of drawing attention to the defects said to be inherent in both cars and vehicles. It is a long-standing complaint capable of being remedied before leaving the works if sufficient care were given to inspection and minor adjustments.
Speed is the enemy of mankind, the downfall of the makers' reputation and an added stigma on the British pride of achievement in quality and dependability. As a nation we have every reason to avoid complaint or defeat in the open markets and unless we do, we must expect to lose trade. Speed in performance is a virtue, but speed in workmanship and assembly is morally wrong and unfair to the purchasing victim.
FRANCIS B. WILLMOTT, Birmingham 5
Why They Don't Join ()NE of your correspondents last week ("Trunkie" from Thorpe Bay) posed the question: "Why do operators not join the professional organizations catering for the operating staff of road hauliers and ancillary users?"
The answer, I submit, is obvious. The haulier is much too busy, day and night, running his business. Ask the average haulier what his hobby is and he will tell you—work. "ANOTHER TRUNKIE", London SW.