Abandoned Greyhound bus

[Dizzy1]

Ask an official for clarification if you have to know - it came from them.

No, I'm asking you. You said ...

The driver is not allowed to leave the bus unattended.

No, the driver was clearly to blame according to policy.

Speculation doesn't make it fact. The driver was required to stay until relieved - doesn't say much for his integrity.

Which he wasn't suppose to do until a relief driver arrived.

Chances are slim to be picked up by another bus company knowing he won't follow policy. Wouldn't he have had an emergency number to call in the event of a bus breakdown?

Doesn't matter what the driver's side is, he failed to live up to his side of employment.

... yet you are failing to provide any evidence showing a company policy stating that leaving a bus unattended or leaving before a relief driver shows up is a no-no even though you are repeadetly suggesting otherwise.

The reason why I'm asking is because having worked with First (Greyhound's parent company), I know that many of their properties do not have a policy requiring a driver to wait until they are relieved or that they may not leave a bus with passengers on it unattended. I also know of several similar incidents in the past that never made the media have happened. I also know that there have been scheduling issues and overtime compensation with some properties in the past where the employees simply had enough.

Now, I'm not trying to defend the driver, but I'm also not labelling him as many in this thread are, I'd like to simply know what policies are in place in this event and what other possibilities may have contributed to his descision such as miscommunication or refusal of overtime compensation.

[LoneWolf_53]

Irrelevant isn't it? He abandoned his responsibility.

I would certainly agree, but it seems obvious some can't accept that.

All I see is SE grasping for any excuse to justify what this driver did, but quite simply the way the guy went about it was as wrong as you can get, and there is no acceptable excuse for it.

If he had a kid waiting for him, he still could have been a big boy and at least given some sort of information to the passengers, or as I said earlier if it was an emergency that's what 911 is for. There's no indication of such, and much more to suggest his actions were purely a rage quit, something also corroborated by the fact that he got fired.

Surplus can keep looking for an angle till the cows come home, the truth of the matter is regardless of what wage this driver was getting, be it $13hr $18hr or $22hr he knew what he was signing up for when he accepted the job, thus if he had some objection to the pay he could have easily said no thanks at that point. One doesn't need to actually be a bus driver to imagine some of what comes along with the territory, like unruly passengers, winter driving conditions, weather caused scheduling problems (relief driver), and rate of pay, so it's hard to feel sympathetic toward someone who took the responsibility on then shirked it in such an unprofessional manner.

[SurplusElect]

Right. What I do know is a guy just walked away from his job - why?

I also know Greyhound had no idea how long their driver was on the road for, and had a system in place that let this happen.

You say he is a lazy, bad man.

I say when someone does something they know they are going to be fired for - they most likely were not happy.

We will have to agree to disagree until more facts come out. I actually considered calling this guy up to ask him what he was thinking, lol.

Also, leaving the bus running is actually responsible. It's a diesel.

[Fancy]

I'd like to simply know what policies are in place in this event and what other possibilities may have contributed to his descision such as miscommunication or refusal of overtime compensation.

Then instead of posting on a discussion forum, write or phone the applicable agencies for clarification. It's that simple.

[Fancy]

Ah SurplusElect - I said "bad choices" and never said he was a "lazy bad man" - those are your words.

[LoneWolf_53]

Now, I'm not trying to defend the driver, but I'm also not labelling him as many in this thread are, I'd like to simply know what policies are in place in this event and what other possibilities may have contributed to his descision such as miscommunication or refusal of overtime compensation.

You bring up some points worth contemplating, but at the same time the operative word here is "professional" and simply put, walking away from a busload of passengers in a place with no amenities, in winter in inclement weather, leaving the bus door open, smacks of anything but a professional bus driver.

If there is/were issues with overtime pay or any pay issue, there's a time to deal with that, and while in care and control of a loaded bus sure as heck isn't it. This is a union position, I believe that's what the grievance procedure is for, thus ends that line of defense. I mean come on now look at how many times people like Surplus and others come running to the defense of union brothers, along with endlessly singing the praises of union membership, so where exactly does the union come into play if they aren't there to deal with grievance issues of there membership?

Are we learning now that they really are only there to extract dues from the workers, and beyond that you can expect nothing?

I have a huge problem with people preaching how great unions are, how superior their workforce is, then we read of incidents such as this and some have the gall to stand and defend it.

[Dizzy1]

Then instead of posting on a discussion forum, write or phone the applicable agencies for clarification. It's that simple.

Oh, OK, so one can make claims in a discussion forum, and when one is called on it in the discussion forum, the individual interested in the facts is told to do their own leg work by the person who can't back up their claims in a discussion forum yet continue to post something in the discussion forum that may or may not be true ... gottcha ...

[Fancy]

You catch on quick. You are the one wanting clarification so go to the source. The driver was fired for a reason.

[Dizzy1]

You bring up some points worth contemplating, but at the same time the operative word here is "professional" and simply put, walking away from a busload of passengers in a place with no amenities, in winter in inclement weather, leaving the bus door open, smacks of anything but a professional bus driver.

I do agree with you, as a professional, one does expect a certain level of prefessionalism from an individual, in this case, waiting until the relief driver or other employee showed up. Although, I wouldn't have wanted to be in his shoes sitting on a bus with a bunch of ticked off passengers trying to explain to them over and over again why he cannot drive any farthter lol! However, that does come with the job, and I would also, like you, expect that from a professional. However, I do have a problem with people expecting a professional to be professional in a situation like this and do their job, but when they do their job, they get chastised for making "x" amount of dollars for just sitting on their tukkas all day which is the view expressed by several on these boards.

If there is/were issues with overtime pay or any pay issue, there's a time to deal with that, and while in care and control of a loaded bus sure as heck isn't it. This is a union position, I believe that's what the grievance procedure is for, thus ends that line of defense.

Again, I'll agree with you on this as well. If there is a problem between management and employees, then the Union is the avenue one needs to take either through a grievence or collective bargining. And I'm not looking to making an excuse, but sometimes emotions and stress are contributing factors to making decisions such as the driver did. Having said that, sometimes another tactic if the membership is not getting through to the Union with a problem, is to take matters into their own hands. Not saying that thats right or the appropriate thing to do or even if that is what has happened here.

Are we learning now that they really are only there to extract dues from the workers, and beyond that you can expect nothing?

LOL, I'm pretty much on the same level as you on that one LOL!

In this case though, the individual was fired, which I'm pretty sure has been grieved for wrongful dismissal, now we'll just have to hope and see if there is an update to see what has happened.

[Dizzy1]

You catch on quick. You are the one wanting clarification so go to the source.

Stop making claims you can't back up

The driver was fired for a reason.

We know the driver was fired, but we don't know if the dismissal was justified or just a knee jerk reaction to the story hitting the media. For all we know, the driver could have already won his grievence. Had you been able to back up your claims, we actually might know a little bit more ;)

[Fancy]

http://www.atucanada.ca/content_Arbitra ... ewnion.PDF

Just an example of a grievance process.

http://www.greyhound.com/en/docs/Profes ... 072108.pdf

takes necessary actions to protect the safety and well-being of passengers. Answers passenger questions and responds to requests for assistance

Kind of fell down on the job on that one.

[LoneWolf_53]

Oh, OK, so one can make claims in a discussion forum, and when one is called on it in the discussion forum, the individual interested in the facts is told to do their own leg work by the person who can't back up their claims in a discussion forum yet continue to post something in the discussion forum that may or may not be true ... gottcha ...

Seems to sum up what SurplusElect has been doing all along. Without an actual pay stub to show what the driver in question was in fact being paid, all anyone can do is speculate yet SE kept throwing out the $17hr number as though it were fact, along with conjuring up stuff to shift focus on the employer as the problem, when I'm fairly confident that Greyhound didn't instruct the guy to walk off with the bus running and door open, away from any amenities.

Reasons for the action by the driver are being posted, such as he had a kid to go home to, again with nothing to substantiate it, it simply makes for a good union brother defense argument.

What we do know based on the media news release is that a busload of passengers were left high and dry by a supposed professional bus driver. That's the fact most of us are working with.

[SurplusElect]

Seems to sum up what SurplusElect has been doing all along. Without an actual pay stub to show what the driver in question was in fact being paid, all anyone can do is speculate yet SE kept throwing out the $17hr number as though it were fact, along with conjuring up stuff to shift focus on the employer as the problem, when I'm fairly confident that Greyhound didn't instruct the guy to walk off with the bus running and door open, away from any amenities.

Just to "sum up" what you have said.

Even though there have been multiple links showing the wage structure of a Greyhound bus driver, you demand a impossible piece of evidence (you know nobody on this forum or in the media can produce the drivers pay stubs) and use that to back your claims.

You hate unions. We get it.

[Dizzy1]

http://www.atucanada.ca/content_ArbitrationDecisions/Archive/DISMISSAL-LOCAL%201374/Grievance%20K.Tewnion.PDF

Just an example of a grievance process.

I'm assuming since this grievance has nothing to do with this story or similar, this is for those reading who have never seen or dealt with a grievance before?

http://www.greyhound.com/en/docs/Professional_MCO_Candidate_Handout_072108.pdf

takes necessary actions to protect the safety and well-being of passengers. Answers passenger questions and responds to requests for assistance

Kind of fell down on the job on that one.

Thats the US site, not Greyhound Canada, however I'll see your US site and raise you one Canada site ...

https://www.greyhound.ca/en/careers/
https://www.greyhound.ca/en/Careers/App ... Step1.aspx

The only thing is though, this (on both the US and Canada sites) is still not a reflection of actual company policies, just an introduction for a prospective new hire so its nothing concrete and would never hold up in a grievance. Let alone, if this was not his first offence, all the criteria leading up to dismissal as per the collective agreement would also have to be met.

[Dizzy1]

Seems to sum up what SurplusElect has been doing all along. Without an actual pay stub to show what the driver in question was in fact being paid, all anyone can do is speculate yet SE kept throwing out the $17hr number as though it were fact, along with conjuring up stuff to shift focus on the employer as the problem, when I'm fairly confident that Greyhound didn't instruct the guy to walk off with the bus running and door open, away from any amenities.

As far as wages go, personally, thats not the issue at hand for me so I'm trying to stay out of that one LOL, however, and I could be wrong, but IIRC Greyhound drivers used to/are paid per km/mile, not per hour. There was/is a class structure in place that the more seniority one had the more per km/mile you got. Again, I could be wrong, I'll have to look it up later on. I'm sure that all the info we need is online somewhere, there sure are enough forums specifically for that profession with a wealth of info.

What we do know based on the media news release is that a busload of passengers were left high and dry by a supposed professional bus driver. That's the fact most of us are working with.

Which is fine, but honestly, its not enough to form a concrete conclusion on IMHO which some do. Even I do it in other threads where I really don't know the background or information, but we're all human and I do appreciate learning as much as possible from that thread.