Transport Workers’ Union will call an emergency safety summit in the wake of attack on female bus driver
The Transport Workers’ Union will call an emergency safety summit in the wake of a violent attack on a female bus driver in which she was allegedly spat on, kicked and punched by a 13-year-old boy and an older accomplice.
The woman was driving the route between Elizabeth Quay and Curtin University when she pulled into the Victoria Park station about 7.15pm on Thursday and was set upon in an assault TWU WA branch secretary Tim Dawson said was “hard to put into words”.
According to police, a 13-year-old boy who had boarded the bus with a disorderly group of people spat on the bus driver before stealing her phone.
It is alleged the same boy then kicked the victim, before a 32-year-old woman punched her in the face.
The brutal alleged attack came just two days after Edward Charles Abbott pleaded guilty to attacking a 66-year-old TransWA bus driver in Geraldton.
When Abbott was denied a seat on the bus, he struck the bus driver multiple times to the head, causing him to lose his front teeth, and leaving him with cutting and bruising to his mouth and face. He will be sentenced next month.
In a statement on Sunday, the TWU said it was time to call time on the “safety crisis” on WA buses, saying the union has had enough of State Government “inaction on anti-social behaviour and bus driver attacks”.
Mr Dawson has called on bus operators to release union delegates and health and safety representatives from work next Wednesday so they could attend the urgent safety summit.
He said the union had long been calling for an increase to security measures for bus drivers, including bringing security services in-house rather than contracting it out.
Bus security guards should also have the same powers as transit guards, such as the power to arrest, Mr Dawson said, while also calling for harsher penalties for attacks on transport workers.
“(Bus drivers) are very concerned and we’ve been discussing their concerns for quite awhile with the Government,” he said.
“They are concerned with what they saw last week (the Victoria Park attack) and unless something changes, it will happen again.”
Mr Dawson said the union had reached out to the victim, who he understood was shaken up by the ordeal.
Source…
‘Somebody Has to Protect Us:’ CTA Bus Drivers Demand Increased Safety Amid Violence Surge – NBC Chicago
Hundreds of CTA employees marched through downtown Chicago Saturday afternoon, begging for safety this holiday season following a surge in violence against the agency’s employees.
Keith Hill, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241, which represents a portion of the agency’s employees, says there have been nearly 400 assaults this year on CTA staff.
“Enough is enough,” he said. “Local 241 and 308 is fed up at this point.”
Just last weekend, a 49-year-old CTA bus driver was attacked while driving in the 100 block of North Michigan Avenue.
During the nighttime hours, the driver heard a loud noise and got out of the bus to investigate, according to police. When he did, he was confronted by two individuals. The two individuals then began to repeatedly punch the driver, causing bruises on his body and on his face, authorities said.
Chicago police announced the arrest of a 15-year-old boy the next day.
“We are out here moving this city every day, making sure people get to and from work in a safe manner, but we are getting attacked for doing our jobs,” said Marian Lampkin, a CTA bus operator. “We want to go home the same way we come.”
Union leaders and bus drivers say they’re concerned the trend of violence against transit employees will continue to rise without added security.
“When I think I’m coming to work safe – it’s like I got to pray because I don’t know what the outcome is going to be that day,” said CTA bus operator Tamirra Dixon.
A CTA representative told NBC 5 the agency is working closely with the Chicago Police Department, and the safety and security of its employees are top priorities.
California Transportation Agency mobile surveillance for entire bus fleet | 2021-05-04