COUNTERBLAST TO UNPOPULAR CIRCULAR
Page 43
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
REPLY to the circular issued from the Glasgow Transport Department, on the subject of tram and bus accidents in city streets, was made, last week, by Mr. R. MacDonald, iecretary of the Glasgow District Committee of the Transport and General Workers' Union. In the reply, which is addressed to Mr. R. F. Smith, general manager of the Transport Department, Mr. MacDonald states that his committee resents the implications contained in the circular and that it further resents the suggestion of drastic treatment being meted out to the drivers.
The reply states that the committee feels that the responsibility for recent accidents can be laid at the door of the management, in respect of (1) the condition of rolling stock, both tram and bus; (2) the speed which members are expected to comply with, in Glasgow; and (3) the condition of the traffic within the city of Glasgow. "With regard to the tram section," adds the letter, " it is impossible for a fleet of an average of 100 trams per depot to be properly supervised with only one qualified engineer. With regard to buses, it is common knowledge that defects reported by our members are not attended to and that they have to continue the following day without the slightest attention having been paid to the defects reported the previous day. It can be proved that in recent accidents mechanical defects have been responsible, and the implications that the drivers of these vehicles are responsible is unfair and unjust. Furthermore, in view of the conditions prevailing in Glasgow, we contend that any driver being asked to work a longer period than four and a half hours is conducive to accidents."
The letter concludes with a request for a full inquiry into the whole question of accidents within the services.