Edinburgh crews want to have their say . .
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A DEMAND that Edinburgh bus drivers and conductors should sit on the transport committee was made at a meeting of Edinburgh and District Trades Council.
The council is to have talks with the Transport and General Workers Union and other trade unions on the matter. Mr. J. Beaton, of the TGWU, told the council that employees were "bewildered" by the policies of the transport department.
The deficit on city transport was running at flm. yet drivers were earning i12 17s a week (minimum) and inspectors .E18 19s.
The department was one of the largest single employers of labour in the city with 3,000 on the payroll. Its successful operation was just as important to the people of Edinburgh as it was to the employees.
"The blame must lie in joint responsibility with the transport committee and to a lesser degree with the transport manager," says Mr.. Beaton.
He accused town councillors of pursuing popularity at the polls by insisting on the maintenance of unprofitable services at the expense of the transport industry.
Transport, said Mr. Beaton, was a social matter, and the problem should be met either wholly or in part by subsidies from the rates. The expertise of people employed in the industry should be used by the transport committee.