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London bus drivers are said to be almost passing out at the wheel from soaring temperatures inside their vehicles, with a growing risk of fatal collisions.
Officers from Unite the Union made the claim as over 1,500 Arriva North bus drivers from eight depots across north and east London and Essex began two days of industrial action on Friday.
The strike, the first in a number of walk-outs planned between now and mid-October, urges Arriva to replace their air-cooling system with air conditioning.
Drivers have described falling ill with heatstroke as internal temperatures exceeded 40C, while others say they have have narrowly avoided crashes as a result of their working conditions.
Peter Crane, 62, who has driven for Arriva for 22 years, showed a photo of his cab temperature reading at 44C on Friday. He said: “We’re so fed up, we get into the bus, and it’s absolutely boiling.
“It makes you drowsy. It makes you feel a bit uncomfortable. You’re sweating, you’re sticky. It’s like, you get off a plane, you go to Greece or Spain or something.
“It’s like being in a greenhouse. That’s my life. You can’t walk out. It’s not like an air-conditioned office. Not like our bosses, our directors, who are driving by with what we need, air-con in a car, it’s cool.
“We just want the same thing. Why can’t we have air-con? Why can’t we be comfortable and safe?
Asked what his message to Arriva would be, Mr Crane said: “Do you really care about the comfort of your staff? Because there’s no evidence of it. It’s all talk.”
Mr Crane was among around 50 drivers striking outside Wood Green bus garage in north London.
Protesters gathered peacefully with music on, holding placards reading “Too hot to work. Act now!” and union flags, and handing out pamphlets reading “No to heatstroke. Yes to heat strikes” as cars and buses honked horns as they drove by.
Drivers work shifts of up to 10 hours with a break in the middle, and have been told by Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan, via LBC, that they have a right to refuse to drive a bus if it is too hot.
