Union Elections

I am a member of the Unite Union. I have to say before I became a driver I always thought of Unions as left wing anti government and only interested in calling strikes so they could have a day off. However, almost the day I started driving my view changed. I was asked to join the Union and did not, until one day I was out with a 'shadow driver' who asked if I had joined the union. I told them I did not believe in unions. Then then asked me to tell them who was left on the bus. I looked and only saw one young lady sitting at the back. 'If that girls said you assaulted her who do you think will stand by you?' The company? I said. Think again I was told. I joined the union the next day. I am not militant but daily I see the rights of workers being attacked and see how much normal working people are struggling. I understand companies have to watch the money. However, many decisions are being made that make no financial sense and seem only aimed at getting more for less from workers. It is therefore vital that every work place has union representation and ideally 100% of the workforce are members. So after all that what is the post about? Our branch chair is retiring and therefore there are elections on the 22nd for a new one. I was asked if I would stand as at that time it seemed there was only only one candidate. Since then a few have put their 'hat in the ring'. This is good news as it shows there is interest in the union within our depot. I have 'set out my stall' so we will see who wins.

New Timetables and new buses

New timetables come in today which means duty changes. Fortunately being on the 'Long Day Duty' mine have stayed pretty much the same however some of my collogues have had major changes made and it still remains to be seen how they will all work out. We also have new routes, changed routes and changed times to deal with so happy that tomorrow I am on City work which at least means if things go wrong I haven't got too far to go. We have also had our first new bus delivery in a while. These are the new Park and Ride Buses.
These are Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 H Hybrid Double Decks. Or as I call them big milk floats. However, these are rather nice and if you drive them correctly will run of batteries for almost all of the journeys as the system uses regeneration from the brakes to charge the batteries. 

31 Years!

It was the Dorothy House Midnight Walk last night. Raynet was once again asked to provide radio cover for the event. This involved keeping track of the walkers, ensuring they had a safe walk around Bath. It was thankfully incident free However, as with all these types of events it was good to try things out as radio coverage can be a serious problem in the city due to the high buildings. During the evening along with the paper work I received a certificate which marked 31 years as a member! I think I have been involved with Emergency Communications ever since I was licensed, which was November 1980. This got me thinking about what I have done in those years and how much the field of communications has changed but also how so much has remained the same. I have not been very active over the last few years but I still get a buzz from setting up a station and spending hours listening to signals from half round the world.One major thing that has changed is that in 1980 I could leave my parents house on Friday night and return on Sunday having participated in a 24 hour contest, now in 2012, well I haven't done a contest for a few years but I think I may struggle a bit!