ABSTRACT
(Next item: Report on new private hospital) 2. 29 January 1975 13.00 Item 2(Previous item: Censorship row; Mary Whitehouse interview)BUS STRIKE/LYNDALL FILM Stevens Not a single bus has been on the roads in London this morning. The drivers and conductors — all 20 thousand of them — are taking the day off, to join in the funeral of a colleague of theirs — the conductor Ronald Jones, who died after a personal attack on him in his bus last week.The action is simultaneously a protest against the general increase in such urban violence which is making their working life a real personal hazard. slide Mr Jack Jones, general secretary of the Transport & General Workers’ Union, who led thousands of busmen on the funeral march said: ‘This is a symbol of the problems we’ve been trying to impress on successive Governments about assaults, attacks and abuse 303of the men and women carrying out essential public service.’ Lyndall Hobbs reports on the funeral — and the effect of the one-day strike on the London public: film up: super: lyndall hobbs reporting Empty bus lanes told the story this morning. On any normal day, five and a half thousand buses are on London’s roads. But today, none were in sight, and other traffic was reported 20% heavier than usual, since several tube services also had to be cancelled. It was here, at the Merton depot, in south west London a week ago, that 270 drivers and conductors decided unanimously to stage a one-day token strike in sympathy for their dead colleague, and to demand greater security for London transport bus crews. Mr Jones, a Jamaican, was hit on the back of the head in Lavender Hill, after an argument on his bus, and later died in hospital from his injuries. With assaults on bus crews running at about a thousand a year, Transport Union leaders want an urgent meeting with the Home Secretary, to discuss bus crews having the same protection under the law as policemen. They also intend complaining about the leniency meted out to offenders. Drivers and conductors from garages all over London, along with many country busmen, gathered in the rain at Wandworth Common this morning, before marching half a mile to the African Methodist Church, where a memorial service was held. I spoke to some of the men about the risk they run: Busman: The trouble is over the last five years it’s deteriorating, especially the youngsters. They get on, they don’t want to pay their fare, that is where the trouble comes in, especially if you work a route where you have a social club, or something like that, or the pubs, when they come out at night. Busman: As a natural deterrent, well, as you probably well know, there’s an experimental bus out with flashing lights and sirens and things like this. Hobbs: Do most people just sit back and watch if they see something happening on a bus? Busman: This seems to be the general attitude of the public. Hobbs: The effects of the bus strike will be felt all day throughout London and some country areas, but the Transport Union has threatened calling out bus members throughout the country — 160,000 in all, for another stoppage, unless the government meet their demands for action against violence [against] busmen. LR, FR, Wandsworth. rt: 48” + 2’30”
