The Department of Public Transportation (DPT) and Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) have reached agreement on the new Bus Operator rosters, and the definition of Night Work to allow implementation of the new 2019 Bus Schedule to proceed.

On 11 January 2019, Representatives from the Ministry of Tourism & Transport, DPT, and the BIU met to discuss concerns over the scheduling of Night Work for the 2019 Bus Schedule; in particular the high concentration of night work in twelve of the eighty rosters.

 As a result of this meeting, it was agreed that a DPT Operations team comprising of select management and staff, would revise the rosters to improve the distribution of night work. This exercise was successfully completed to the benefit of Bus Operators and the Supervisory Team.

With the scheduling of night work a longstanding issue, DPT and BIU representatives have now agreed on a definition for night work, and will enter into a Memorandum of Understanding to provide assurance and clarity for Bus Operators and Management. This will also aid in the development of future work rosters.

At today’s meeting of the BIU Bus Operators and Allied Workers Division, the membership accepted the revised rosters and agreed to implement the new bus schedule. The implementation work is now underway and a start date for the new schedule will be announced in due course.

 The Minister of Tourism and Transport, the Hon. Zane DeSilva JP, MP, said, “I want to congratulate the team at DPT and the BIU for their collaboration and commitment to resolving this challenging issue in the interest of advancing the new bus schedule.”

“Scheduling and completing the work rosters has been a challenging task, and now despite a delay, I am pleased to announce that we are on the verge of implementing the new bus schedule.”