Public Transport : The link between working conditions and service delivery

1. Public Transport : The link between working conditions and service delivery Jane Barrett (Satawu) at the CitiesNetwork seminar on Sustainable Public Transport, Cape Town, 14&15 August 2008

2. The issues that create the link? • Long hours and fatigue • Low pay • Job insecurity • Limited benefits • Poor health • Minimal law enforcement • Corruption • Stress • Workers under these conditions cannot deliver a good service!

3. Who are our transport workers?Labour Force Survey Sept 05 • 616,000 total in transport i.e. 5% of workforce with a gender ratio of 5:1 male to female • 34,000 in bus industry, 160,000 taxi, and 8,000 Metrorail • 295,000 earn R2500 pm or less and 197,000 earn between R2501 and R8000 pm • ½ permanent rest are temporary, casual & fixed term • Nearly ½ have no UIF deductions • 1/3 have no written contract • One third unionised

4. Long hours • Commuter bus drivers – 14 hour spreadover BUT in some cases as high as 17 and a half • Long distance bus drivers – some companies still operating with 1 driver, others pay only for driving time • Taxi drivers – 48 hour week and max 15 hours overtime • These are max legislated, but enforcement is extremely poor

5. Low Pay and limited benefits • Taxi drivers : R1700 pm or R8.24 ph • Bus drivers : drivers R13.99 ph driver/conductors R21.40 ph • Metrorail : general worker R3600 pm, drivers R11,000 • 2/3 all transport workers have no medical cover • No provident fund for taxi workers

6. Job insecurity • Half all transport workers temporary, casual or fixed term • Fixed contracts and competitive tendering for subsidised bus services • Taxi workers most vulnerable to unfair dismissal • Workers in small bus companies also particularly vulnerable

7. Poor health • Fast food, little physical exercise, short on sleep, time away from home • Diabetes • Eye conditions • High blood pressure • Muscular skeletal problems • HIV/AIDS

8. Law enforcement and corruption • WRT employment conditions DOL inspectors don’t operate “on the road” and provincial traffic officers have limited authority concerning working conditions • Some improvements in overloading control • Limited improvement in vehicle roadworthiness inspection and control, but continued corruption • Evidence of ongoing taxi permit corruption

9. Stress • Pressures of meeting targets – passengers, time etc • Conflicting responsibilities e.g. taxi or bus driver has passengers, money and road • Irate passengers • Train drivers and suicides on the track • Worries about money, family, health • Job insecurity • Conflicts within and between modes

10. Conclusion :Let’s look after our transport workers • To improve conditions of work and service will improve. We need :- • Better conditions and reduced hours • Tighter regulation and law enforcement on all fronts • Radically expanded public transport frequency and availability – to be achieved through economies of scale • A move away from the obsession with competition • Above all, integrated planning of sustainable public transport, where passenger needs are put first