Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Gary Froggatt: Tramways Union President on the new measures to increase safety for public transport workers

Transcript

Gary Froggatt: Tramways Union President on the new measures to increase safety for public transport workers · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The government's introducing a new aggravating factor for us fences
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: against public transport workers. This is after attack on bus
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: drivers and passengers on the buses as well has left
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: them bashed and bloodied and bruised. Gary Froget is with us.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: He's the Tramways union president. Gary. Good morning, Good morning, Ryan,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Thanks for being with me. Tell me do you think
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: this aggravating factor for offenses is going to help? Is
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: going to deter people who do this?
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Well, I guess it's another weapon in the armory against
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: this type of crime. It will help make some passengers
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: think again before assaulting a bus driver. However, it's not
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: going to be a solution on its own. The quicker
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: at can install the promise safety screens would be a
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: much better solution.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: I think yeah, And there is money, they say, money
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: coming for that. Why do they generally attack bus drivers?
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: What sets it off? Well, mainly it's over fears. When
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: the driver questions why their hot card doesn't work, they
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: get aggravated. The driver usually tells them to take a seat,
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: But in the last four instances in the last two weeks,
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: we've discovered that the passengers come down the aisle and
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: then whack the driver while he's actually driving the bus.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: We don't know what triggers that off. Maybe they don't
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: like authority being asked to pay their fare. I'm not sure.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: So what are you What are the drivers told to
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: do in that situation? Are they told to tell them
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: to sit down? Or what's the rule?
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: Well? Often transportive in this particular case, or can transport
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: have now agree that bus drivers are no longer required
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: to monitor the fair cards all and the drivers have
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: been told not to question the passengers, just to let
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: them take a seat, lose a couple of dollars and
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: have a bus driver off work for three months or so.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: I can see the logic, But man, it's a sad
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: day when you have to just let them run a mark,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: isn't it?
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: Yes, it is. It's not acceptable, But I don't have
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: a solution. We can't have a police officer on every bus, unfortunately,
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: and we really don't want that. In the old days,
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: of course, there was a conductor who collected the fares
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: and they acted as a type of security. Gary.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: What about slamming on the brakes, Well.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: That has happened on occasions. One of our drivers did that, unfortunately,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: the bus company didn't like it, and when he tried
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: to kick the passenger off the bus, they got upset
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: and tried to threaten him with some penalty. So it's
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: a difficult situation.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: It is rocking a hard place. Gary, thanks very much
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: for being with me. Hopefully the new aggravating factor might
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: make some difference. That's Gary Frogett. He's the Tramways Union president.
• 2:59
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• 3:02
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• 3:05
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