Arriva sacks striking drivers

Arriva Malta has announced it has fired the bus drivers on wildcat strikes. Spokesperson Piers Marlow said today the company will be bringing in UK drivers on a temporary basis for the coming week. Other striking drivers who reported in for work today will be treated on a case-by-case basis.

He said Arriva was bringing some 50 UK Arriva certified and trained bus drivers as a strictly temporary until the driver shortage is resolved, adding that the majority of these are already in Malta. He added that some of these will go on duty tomorrow, and said that Arriva's intention is to "have all the drivers in play by the end of the week."

Marlow added that Arriva opted to bring in UK drivers simply because of expediency, as time is currently a crucial factor. He added that, in the meantime, Arriva is pressing on with recruitment efforts. 

The new public transport service was hampered by long delays and complaints by the public, as some 56 drivers also chose not to report for work on Sunday. "We cannot have a situation where we, and our customers, are held hostage," he said, referring to how the striking bus drivers will not be working for Arriva.

“We’re certainly not meeting the requirements as laid down in the contract,” Marlow said when asked by MaltaToday about the complaints. “But we’ve met most of the conditions.” 

Arriva Malta Managing Director Keith Bastow insisted that even without the last minute shortage of drivers, the service would have still experienced issues. He added however that the drivers' strikes compounded the inevitable hiccups. He however said that Arriva had prepared adequately in terms of route-planning, driver training, and IT preparation.

Both Morgan and Bastow however commented on what a unique challenge Malta represented for Arriva. "We never had to build a system from the ground up before." Bastow said.

Morgan added that this "unknown factor" complicated matters considerably, as did the fact that the system was always meant to experience a drastic overnight change from an owned-bus system to a fully redesigned Arriva system.

"It is difficult to recover from a running start, but we are working hard," Morgan added.

Amateur footage of bus lane at Granaries, Floriana.

Transport Malta has issued a temporary authorisation to Arriva Malta to employ foreign bus drivers to operate the new bus service, whose teething problems include nothing less than wildcat strikes by some 60 drivers.

“The drivers are licensed and experienced in rendering their services, but do not satisfy the requisite in the contract that they must know how to speak Maltese,” a TM spokesperson said.

The transport authority said it authorised the request on a temporary basis so that Arriva can continue its service while its drivers are on strike.

“Transport Malta feels that in normal circumstances, it is essential that bus drivers are fluent in Maltese and can speak and understand a basic level of English. But TM also understands the fact that 60 from some 600 workers today did not show up for work,” the spokesperson said.

TM said it was priority that all public transport services are to the standard agreed in the contract with Arriva, and satisfies public expectations.

On the first day of its operation, Arrivareported yesterday that it had run into problems ranging from a shortage of drivers, malfunctioning ticket machines, excessive waiting periods, and other technical difficulties.

The company reported issues particularly with regard to route services based in or passing through Blata l-Bajda, as some drivers failed to turn up for work.

It reported that there were also some technical difficulties such as bus ticketing machines that were not operational in various locations, including the Valletta terminus.

One particular articulated ‘bendy’ bus which was routed close to Mater Des hospital was stuck, ad it did not possess enough manoeuvrability to navigate a turn.

Overall, feedback from passengers is mixed. While some passengers reported they were satisfied with the bus quality and the politeness and training of the drivers, many complained of buses running late.

Some people said they had no idea when buses would arrive or depart, reporting waiting times of exceeding one hour. Bus inspectors on duty were reportedly unaware of how to address the situation.

One of them, who did not wish to be identified, reportedly said that there had not been enough time within which staff could be adequately trained, or the public adequately informed.

These concerns were echoed by bus drivers, who admitted that they were not familiar with their assigned routes as they were not given enough time to practice them.

In the meantime, some 20 drivers are persisting with protest and refusing to work. They are protesting that their roster was unfair and should be changed immediately, opposing being assigned split shifts and having to work longer hours thane expected.

Piers Marlow, speaking for Arriva at about 8 am was reported as saying that services were running smoothly in the localities of Marsa and the North of Malta, but problems arose in Floriana due to a driver shortage as some did not turn up for work.

He said that a number of routes were affected, and that the company would be calling up reserve drivers.

His statements were however disputed by many Mellieha residents, who claimed that bus stops were overflowing with people waiting for over an hour, as buses were scant and not respecting the time table.