BUS drivers manned picket lines at depots in Douglas, Ramsey and Port Erin as their three-day strike got under way today (Thursday).
Six official pickets plus a dozen or more supporters were at the entrance to the Banks Circus depot in Douglas from the early hours - and claimed they had managed to stop four or five buses crossing the picket line.
In the south, Castle Rushen High School students enjoyed the novelty of taking the steam train to school, alighting at a temporary halt specially built at School Hill. Some 150 pupils are estimated to have boarded the train which left Port Erin at 8.10am.
But elsewhere there were reports that the public transport division’s contingency measures were not going quite to plan, with some students and commuters left waiting at bus stops.
Indeed, torrential rain ensured there was rush hour misery for many people, with standing water making driving conditions hazardous. There were long tailbacks following an accident on Richmond Hill.
The Department of Community Culture and Leisure said it had reports of intimidation from the picket line in Douglas and that this has had impact on scheduled services.
Eric Holmes, regional officer of the Unite union, said he was ‘extremely pleased’ with the turn-out on the picket lines.
He said members of the public had shown their support by offering food and sweets to drivers.
Mr Holmes described the contingency measure as ‘pathetic’. ‘If they are doing it just to make a point, they’ve failed,’ he said.
‘This just shows how vital the service is and they should not be attacking people like this, they should not be taking people’s money off them.
‘You can’t just attack people and not expect them to fight back. People have said “enough is enough”.’
Mr Holmes described claims that some drivers had been intimidated into voting for strike action as ‘fabricated’. He insisted drivers would follow strict rules on conduct on the picket line. He claimed the strikers had stopped ‘four or five’ buses from the crossing the picket line before the police told them to stop. ‘We peacefully asked the drivers not to cross the picket line as we were told we could legally do and the drivers did stop’.
He insisted that striking over changes to drivers’ term and conditions, including the removal of paid lunch breaks, was ‘not the union’s fault’. ‘We’ve tried to negotiate, but you can’t negotiate when one side won’t move,’ he said.
Mr Holmes called for the Chief Minister, Allan Bell MHK, to take over negotiations.
‘He needs to take charge for proper negotiations and get this sorted,’ he said.
A spokesman for the Department of Community, Culture and Leisure insisted the contingency measures had gone very well - but there had been a few hiccups.
He said: ‘We understand the education department is happy with the school service and happy with students’ attendance. Commuters have got into work. The buses have been running as close as possible to our contingency plan.’
The spokesman said the road accident at Richmond Hill had meant some services had to be re-routed, causing delays. A bus in Onchan clipped a traffic sign, and this, coupled with heavy congestion and the bad weather, meant it ran an hour behind schedule.
He denied claims that children had been left stranded at bus stops in Andreas and Ballaugh, insisting the bus had ran almost on time, driven by an experienced manager.
The Manx Electric Railway has an updated schedule for tomorrow (Friday) with services reduced to hourly rather than every 30 minutes for off peak times. School services and peak times are unchanged.
The Welcome Centre will be open until at least 8pm (extended from 6pm) for public enquiries today.