Dublin Bus drivers forced to ‘urinate in bottles’
By Aura McMenamin
A UNION representing Dublin Bus drivers has called on the company to provide toilet facilities at terminuses last week, as union leaders say that drivers are “urinating in bottles” to relieve themselves due to a lack of facilities.
The National Bus and Rail Union met with Dublin Bus last Tuesday to discuss the issue of drivers not having access to toilets at some terminuses after long driving times, causing them discomfort and resulting in drivers having to relieve themselves in bottles and cups.
It has been claimed that Dublin Bus drivers are being disciplined for radioing home base and asking to use the toilet, because of the bus being taken out of service.
An NBRU rep told The Echo: “Dublin Bus drivers have been reported by local communities for urinating in bottles and leaving them at the Jobstown and City West terminuses due to being reported [by inspectors] for using toilets in the Square.
“The inspectors were reporting drivers for using the toilets even though the Square has toilets, but they were annoyed at the bus being taken out of service.”
Members of the public have reported seeing drivers urinate
One driver told The Echo that with peak traffic, a bus driver can be on the road for over four hours before having access to a toilet and that the layover time between one journey to the next is three minutes.
He said: “There is very little time to use a toilet near the terminus between the time of arrival and the time of the second departure.”
“Bus drivers relieving themselves in bottles is endemic. I’m going on 11 years driving the bus. From the first day, I always had a bottle or cup with me.
“Drivers are under immense pressure to keep buses going.”
Call of Nature
In a letter seen by The Echo from senior Dublin Bus management to a driver headed “Call of Nature Resulting in Missed Trip or Late Departure”, four instances last year of the driver needing to go to the toilet were recorded, which had resulted in a delayed journey or a journey that began from the Clontarf bus garage, rather than the correct terminus.
The letter asked the driver to call into the manager’s office.
Another driver spoke to The Echo about the pain and discomfort he felt from having to wait for a toilet break, saying that on one occasion he actually soiled himself.
The driver said: “I told the inspector that I had s*** myself. He got angry and told me that the bus would have to be changed. I told him that I always drove with a seat cover and it was me that needed to get changed.
“He told me straight away that I wouldn’t be paid for the day…It’s as if Dublin Bus hasn’t caught up to the 21st century.”
In a letter to human resources shown to The Echo, the NBRU said: “[London] is to invest £6 million on toilet facilities for bus drivers. It has long passed that Dublin Bus and the NTA move to replicate the London model.
“The problems of toilet facilities has become more pronounced in recent times with schedules containing first and second legs of duties in excess of five hours.”
When asked about the possibility of these facilities being vandalised, the NBRU source said it was “entirely a matter for Dublin Bus but not having them is a risk to the health, safety and well-being of drivers”.
Dublin Bus told The Echo: “It is not possible to provide our own toilet facilities at termini across the city due to our extensive route network. However, drivers are currently advised to use the toilet facilities of local amenities.”
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