Lothian Bus drivers could face shorter working week

An email sent to members in the union has warned of a potential shift to a shorter working week.

Bus drivers could be faced with shorter working weeks.

Lothian bus drivers could face a shorter working week and pay cut if the company cannot agree rotas until the start of next year, the Evening News can reveal.

An email sent by Unite the union to members, seen by the Evening News, states that the company is looking at extending the temporary rota structure put in place during the Covid-19 crisis until January 12 next year.

The email, sent by Unite branch chairman Tony Pearson, states the proposals for the rotas to continue as they are until January is “agreeable”, but drivers were invited to vote on whether it was acceptable to them.

It warns that if the proposal is rejected, Lothian could look to a shorter working week for bus drivers.

The email reads: “We have had a proposal from the company that the three rotas in place just now continue to January 12, 2021. This means no change to working practices currently operating.

"This has been discussed at committee level with the consensus that this is agreeable with a written agreement to revert to our terms and conditions.

"If this is not acceptable the company may look to a shorter working week.”

Lothian has been in significant financial trouble since the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic as plummeting passenger numbers – a drop of 90 per cent in total – took its toll on the council-owned bus operator.

A large number of drivers were placed on furlough with many still unable to work as timetables begin to return to normal. The company did not answer questions on how many drivers remain furloughed.

In early July, Edinburgh City Council said it was no longer able to rely on the bus company’s annual dividend of £6m for at least the 2020/21 financial year and potentially beyond.

The dividend had already been lost for the previous financial year due to Covid-19.

Despite this, the company found almost £150,000 to pay in compensation their controversial former managing director Richard Hall who resigned in February, in addition to his salary of more than £170,000.

His payment of £323,091 is equal to five per cent of the cancelled annual dividend.

On July 13, the Evening News revealed council plans to bring together the operation of the buses and the trams under a new single company to help increase accountability.

A consultation is now underway on the merger of the council-owned arms-length organisations Lothian Buses, Edinburgh Trams and the current parent company Transport for Edinburgh.

Such a move could reduce the chance of controversies involving the companies including 2019’s row over the lack of buggy and wheelchair space on new buses.

Lothian failed to respond to requests for comment.

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