Transport for London Station Supervisor tries to stop Workers of England Officials from campaigning for better working conditions for Bus Drivers

Transport for London Station Supervisor tried to stop Workers of England Officials from speaking to our members and promoting our campaign for better working conditions for Bus Drivers.

On Wednesday 9th September two Workers of England Representatives paid a visit to Stratford Bus station in London, the visit was for two reasons, firstly to speak and interact with our members and see if they had any issues they wished to raise and secondly to highlight our “Bus Drivers Charter” campaign to get bus drivers better working conditions.

It came as a surprise when the Transport for London Station Supervisor refused to allow us onto the premises, not only to pass out leaflets campaigning for better conditions for bus drivers but he also refused to allows us to speak to any driver, in contravention of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
He tried to defend his actions by saying we were in breach of the local bye laws, however he refused to give us a copy of those bye laws.

The next point is what caused us great concern, stood near us and listening to our conversation was a Community Officer, the Station Supervisor stated to the Officer that we had refused to leave, this was not accurate as we had only asked for a copy of the bye law he was quoting to verify he was correct.
This action by the Station Supervisor only enforced our view that he was wrong and that he knew he was wrong.

Once we had highlighted to the Community Officer that we believed the Station Supervisor had made an inaccurate statement the Officer made a tactical retreat, our view was that this was an attempt by the Station Supervisor to pervert the course of Justice in an attempt to get an individual arrested.

Apparently the TFL Station Supervisor then called the Police as some 30 minutes later two turned up, they appeared more interested in stopping our legal activity of speaking to our members under the Trade Union and Labour (Consolidation) Act 1992 and our promotion for better conditions for Greater London bus drivers than they were about inaccurate information being given to the community Officer by the station Supervisor in what appeared to be an attempt to pervert the course of Justice.

This didn’t deter us from speaking to our members or promoting our campaign to get better conditions for bus drivers, it did highlight what lengths a Transport for London station Supervisor will go to, to stop unions fighting for better conditions for bus drivers.