Bus drivers in Pole position


Bus passengers in South Yorkshire might soon be saying 'dziekuje'instead of 'thank you' as a new breed of Polish bus drivers look set to take the wheel in the county. Tony Belshaw reports.


TRANSPORT firm First has been desperately trying to fill vacant posts for bus drivers to ease a growing recruitment crisis.
And now it is turning its gaze even further - from Gdansk instead of Greasbrough and Warsaw instead of Wickersley.
The industry is short of about 33,000 bus drivers so First Group is hoping to recruit 1,000 drivers from Poland over the next 18 months.
The country joined the European Union in May, giving its 30 million citizens the right to live and work throughout western Europe.
Around 12 Polish bus drivers are expected to take the wheel in Sheffield early next year.
High unemployment levels in Poland and an established Polish community in Sheffield makes it a very attractive destination.
Deregulation of bus services in Poland has left many Polish drivers jobless, in a country where unemployment now stands at 22 per cent.
In contrast, English bus drivers complain the wages are poor.
Twenty years ago being a bus drivers was seen as a good job but now some bus drivers complain of low wages - sparking the recent three-week strike in South Yorkshire - and abuse from passengers.
But for Poles the English wages seem generous. There bus drivers are paid about £1.60 an hour, or, for those who have lost their jobs, about 450 zlotys a month, the equivalent of £70, Here, they would stand to earn up to five times that amount.
Moir Lockhead, First's chief executive, said the company needed to recruit more drivers to avoid cancelling services. He said: "Our new members of staff are fully qualified as bus drivers and engineers, some drivers have up to 20 years experience. The Polish recruits undergo a five-month English language training programme and are taught bus-related vocabulary,how to be rude unhelpful and bad temperd.

Kirky not all bus drivers are rude & unhelpfull.
It is my guess that the Polish drivers wont stay long when they realise that the standard of behaviour of English bus passengers & the Polish bus passengers is very different.

Originally posted by d71146
Kirky not all bus drivers are rude & unhelpfull.
It is my guess that the Polish drivers wont stay long when they realise that the standard of behaviour of English bus passengers & the Polish bus passengers is very different.

i don't think they'll be botherd as they will be on top wages now..compared to what they were getting in poland anyway

Originally posted by kirky
i don't think they'll be botherd as they will be on top wages now..compared to what they were getting in poland anyway

But it won't go as far in this country as the cost of living will be so much higher.

Originally posted by kirky
Bus drivers in Pole position


Bus passengers in South Yorkshire might soon be saying 'dziekuje'instead of 'thank you' as a new breed of Polish bus drivers look set to take the wheel in the county. . [/B]

Well i didn't know our bus drivers said Thank you anyway> They are right rude B**TA*DS. I drive now but hen I got on the busses i only came accross one nice bus diriver that did the 52 route. other than that there all a bunch on arrogant arses!
Lets get the polish over here. They may be most friendly and polite. And might actually stop at the bus stop for you in stead of driving off!

i wonder if they know about the pole tax...........:hihi: :hihi:

it's been remarked that Sheffield's roads are worse than Poland's, so it's a win-win situation for the Polish drivers!

Originally posted by MarkB
I drive now but hen I got on the busses i only came accross one nice bus diriver that did the 52 route. other than that there all a bunch on arrogant arses!

There used to be a very friendly female driver that did the 52 route, she used to say hello, thankyou are you alright, make sure you got on and off the bus ok, would never rush you, very good with elderly or disabled passengers, you may remember her by her quite broad yorkshire accent "you alreight love" as she would say.

Its another case of slave labour. First wont pay the going rate for a professional service so they will be creating another second rate service for us, great.:mad:

If employers would pay people the money they deserve then we may not have this problem. Its all about profit. First couldn't give a damn about being a good service or else they would invest in a professional workforce.

does anyone remember the singing bus conductor? i lived on handsworth top and my grandma n grandad had a butchers shop in crookes if i copped for the said conductor on the 52 he would sing to all the old dears all the way there.......

Originally posted by Hadron
Its another case of slave labour. First wont pay the going rate for a professional service so they will be creating another second rate service for us, great.:mad:

If employers would pay people the money they deserve then we may not have this problem. Its all about profit. First couldn't give a damn about being a good service or else they would invest in a professional workforce.

why should they be any less professional or second rate just because they are Polish?

Bet the Polish club(s) on Eccelsall road are rubbing there hands at this news.

Originally posted by theflyingfish
why should they be any less professional or second rate just because they are Polish?

cos they drive on the wrong side of the road and can't read our road signs.......a bit like our bus drivers come to think of it:confused: :confused: :confused:


:D

Originally posted by Hadron
Its another case of slave labour. First wont pay the going rate for a professional service so they will be creating another second rate service for us, great.:mad:

If employers would pay people the money they deserve then we may not have this problem. Its all about profit. First couldn't give a damn about being a good service or else they would invest in a professional workforce.

My company takes coaches over to Poland and brings them back full of workers. With historically low unemployment it's quite difficult to get British people to do jobs that they consider menial. It's not slave labour - someone has to drive the buses.

cant say as i care who drives buses so long as they wouldn't mind keeping to the left hand lane on the parkway.

chug chugs in lane 2 get on my ****

its not just buses, as anyone else noticed poor lane disciplin on parkway? mmm, perhaps a new thread.

i think its a good idea, just as long as people dont start being rasist to the polish like they have in the past, i am 1/2 polish with a polish surname & dont take too kindly to rasism just as the asians dont & black people etc!

Originally posted by ole1
cant say as i care who drives buses so long as they wouldn't mind keeping to the left hand lane on the parkway.

chug chugs in lane 2 get on my ****

its not just buses, as anyone else noticed poor lane disciplin on parkway? mmm, perhaps a new thread.

Why should'nt a Bus be able to use the 2nd lane on the parkway?I use it from Gala Bingo and for a good reason i'm about to turn right after Dixons.

Regarding poor lane disciplin you want to tell certain drivers to stay in the correct lane whilst going around Park Square Roundabout.

Originally posted by kirky
cos they drive on the wrong side of the road and can't read our road signs.......a bit like our bus drivers come to think of it:confused: :confused: :confused:


:D

And Car drivers can read road signs can they?? They read Bus lane as their private lane,they read Bus Stop as their private Car Park,Read Buses Only signs as their own private short cut.I could go on and on...Rather like these Bus driver threads on here!

Driving standards in Sheffield are noticeably appalling, whether the vehicle being piloted is bus, van, car, truck or bike. I've been visiting and living here off & on since the mid 90s, and it's still a shock how inattentive, half-asleep and downright incapable of piloting a vehicle the general populace is here. People visiting often say things along the lines of "it's odd, but as soon as I got past Chesterfield I felt like I landed in the middle of a wierd sleep-driving experiment". There are more succinct ways of putting this.

Why is this? Why can people not use lanes correctly? Why can't they work out that the green tarmac is for buses? Why can't they figure out that the green tarmac is for general use outside bus lane times? Why is indication a randomly-applied discipline? Why is mirror use practically non-existent? Why do Sheffield's motorists believe that, when passing parked cars, they must leave an eight foot safety zone to their nearside, and insufficient room on the offside for traffic coming in the opposite direction? Why do they do a maximum of 40mph on the Peak District's National Speed Limit sections? Then brake for corners. And that speed camera near the Dore turning off the Hathersage roads? Tragic, arrant muppetry reigns supreme.

Any ideas? I am perennially baffled by it, as there are many excellent schools of motoring in this fine city. Thankfully, there's also a highly active IAM group, home to an expanding group of people who actually do believe that when driving a smidge of engagement is required. The fight goes on.

Originally posted by joyphil
Driving standards in Sheffield are noticeably appalling, whether the vehicle being piloted is bus, van, car, truck or bike. I've been visiting and living here off & on since the mid 90s, and it's still a shock how inattentive, half-asleep and downright incapable of piloting a vehicle the general populace is here. People visiting often say things along the lines of "it's odd, but as soon as I got past Chesterfield I felt like I landed in the middle of a wierd sleep-driving experiment". There are more succinct ways of putting this.

Why is this? Why can people not use lanes correctly? Why can't they work out that the green tarmac is for buses? Why can't they figure out that the green tarmac is for general use outside bus lane times? Why is indication a randomly-applied discipline? Why is mirror use practically non-existent? Why do Sheffield's motorists believe that, when passing parked cars, they must leave an eight foot safety zone to their nearside, and insufficient room on the offside for traffic coming in the opposite direction? Why do they do a maximum of 40mph on the Peak District's National Speed Limit sections? Then brake for corners. And that speed camera near the Dore turning off the Hathersage roads? Tragic, arrant muppetry reigns supreme.

Any ideas? I am perennially baffled by it, as there are many excellent schools of motoring in this fine city. Thankfully, there's also a highly active IAM group, home to an expanding group of people who actually do believe that when driving a smidge of engagement is required. The fight goes on.

Sorry.....I thought this thread was about Polish bus drivers heading for Sheffield!
WTF does any of your comments relate to the thread besides your own views on traffic and rules and regs?????

Amazing that you enter a thread and cannot concieve the content or purpose behind it.

can some one get this thread back to it's purpose?

I for one think that the only reason that we are taking in Polish people to drive busses is that the wages are substandard to the responsibility of the job and no one here wants to work for 5.50 an hour and still take the crap from commuters

Calm down, my dear Derek. You'll do yerself a mischief with your WTF-ing. Have you ever noticed how one topic of conversation spills into another related one? It's all to do with the consecutive fashion in which the human brain works. That's the greyish spongy thing inside the head. It also contains the imagination. At least it does in most cases, except when the self-righteousness lobe has overdeveloped and squashed the occipital imaginarium out of existence. Perhaps.

Anyway, although your blood pressure is quite possibly a tad dangerous you're right about the wages and unrewarding job axis. Since the bus companies are unlikely to make driving PSVs a pleasant and well-remunerated activity for yer average Brit, free market economics, or free common-market economics in this case, dictate that our Eastern comrades are welcome to pop across here and do the job if they want. Tis the way this country operates. Personally I'm well in favour of economic migrants. Would never have met my wonderful Filipina wife had British nurses not been thin on the ground.

You're either on the bus, or you're not on the bus.

Breathe deeply now...

now i'm out of the pub game driving a bus for a living doesn't seem a bad idea.......do mainline put employees through the psv test or do you have to do it yourself.........and where do i get lessons in arrogance and ignorance?

I think the company sponsors new starters through the test. As for the latter qualification, I know a chap who can help as long as he doesn't have that heart attack... he's good with punctuation too, in case you're interested.

Remember, indicators and mirrors are for wimps.

he's good with punctuation too, in case you're interested.

don't get peronnel:( :( :( :(

Originally posted by kirky
.........and where do i get lessons in arrogance and ignorance?

Would have thought you had a Master's Degree in those after running a pub :thumbsup:

So First are taking on Polish drivers? The question should be why can't they find any British drivers?

Answer: because the wages are so poor and working conditions so bad.

How would you like to drive a ddouble decker bus through Sheffield traffic for 4 and a half hours solid without a break, then get an unpaid 45 min break somewhere where there are no facilities getting food or drink, then drive for 4 and a half hours again? And even while you were on your break, having arrogant passengers banging on the door of the bus asking where and when you're going cos they're too fat and idol to read the destination on the front?

Do all that for a fiver an hour, six days a week, at unsociable times of the day and work all your bank holidays. Hmmm.... I don't see many takers stepping forwards.

Of course you would get thanked by the passengers by being spat at, sworn at, stabbed, assaulted, robbed and generally abused.

And still I see no takers! I wonder why:confused:

Originally posted by kirky
don't get peronnel:( :( :( :(

Eh? Why not? Sounds exotic and slightly pharmaceutical! Wasn't having a go by the way, dear sir. See nothing wrong with your punct.

Originally posted by kirky
now i'm out of the pub game driving a bus for a living doesn't seem a bad idea.......do mainline put employees through the psv test or do you have to do it yourself.........and where do i get lessons in arrogance and ignorance?
You get paid more at Stagecoach, this is the reason First Mainline is finding hard to get new drivers and Stagecoach don't.

This is a result of Blairs vaunted low wage economy. It's time to pay the indigenous population a decent wage and spend money on training as well.
Bus drivers from Poland, nurses from the Phillipines/South Africa, Doctors fom anywhere, Daffodil pickers from Portugal.etc etc.
Then we have the financial sector, telecommunications, railways etc. exporting call centre jobs to India to boost already huge profits and further drive down wage costs.

On top of that there are 10000s working illegally in construction, catering and farming particularly in the South. The Government is ignoring this because of the economic benefits to these businesses which would otherwise collapse through lack of recruitment. If a side effect is understandable public concern and increased support to the BNP, it's worth putting up with. Of course when Chinese slaves get drowned in Morecambe or asphyxiated in the back of a truck there is a high profile crack down before the status quo returns two days later and things carry on as before.
It's time for a fair days pay for a fair days work!

Originally posted by Ned Ludd
This is a result of Blairs vaunted low wage economy. It's time to pay the indigenous population a decent wage and spend money on training as well.
Bus drivers from Poland, nurses from the Phillipines/South Africa, Doctors fom anywhere, Daffodil pickers from Portugal.etc etc.
Then we have the financial sector, telecommunications, railways etc. exporting call centre jobs to India to boost already huge profits and further drive down wage costs.

On top of that there are 10000s working illegally in construction, catering and farming particularly in the South. The Government is ignoring this because of the economic benefits to these businesses which would otherwise collapse through lack of recruitment. If a side effect is understandable public concern and increased support to the BNP, it's worth putting up with. Of course when Chinese slaves get drowned in Morecambe or asphyxiated in the back of a truck there is a high profile crack down before the status quo returns two days later and things carry on as before.
It's time for a fair days pay for a fair days work!

but our bus drivers don't do a fair days work,bad temperd idle buggers the lot of em......if they don't like the job and the pay they should work elsewhere.

Kirky,
Thats what a lot of them are doing right now the recent "pay rise"
has not made the slightest bit of difference to the retention of staff.

Originally posted by d71146
Kirky,
Thats what a lot of them are doing right now the recent "pay rise"
has not made the slightest bit of difference to the retention of staff.

good job the poles are commin then

so reading the star tonight i see our bus drivers beat kids up aswell.........is there no end to their talents