The SNP is failing to deliver on Scotland's public transport system

23 April 2008

At the STUC today, Unite, Britain's biggest union, called for minimum standards for Scotland's transport workers and for an integrated public transport system in the interests of the Scottish people.

Unite believes that the SNP has spectacularly U-turned on their 2007 manifesto commitment in support of an integrated public transport system. In the run up to last years election, the SNP took £625,000 from Brian Souter the owner of Stage Coach.

Unite Regional Secretary, John Quigley says, "The SNP has spectacularly U-turned on their 2007 manifesto commitment in support of an integrated public transport system. The transport services for the travelling public are just not good enough.

In the interests of the Scottish people we need an integrated public transport system and Scotland's transport workers must have minimum working standards to improve the difficult conditions they are being forced to work under."

The union says that there is still dissatisfaction with services in many areas of the country relating to

• limited services
• unreliability: and
• the absence of services on key routes outside of peak hours.

The union is insisting that steps are taken to improve the conditions of those working within the industry including:

• an end to opt-outs and the abuse of Periods of Availability;
• final salary pension provision, increased access to training and learning, and increased pay for transport workers;
• the extension of Scotland’s laws on protection of public and emergency workers to include transport workers;
• the simplification of the procedures of disclosure checks on transport workers, and
• the inclusion of the provision of secure and adequate parking and welfare facilities for transport workers.