The London Busmen It is difficult to imagine that the
public will evince any general sympathy for the 'bus-drivers and conductors of London if they press their demands on the London Passenger Transport Board to the point of an actual strike on the eve of the Coronation. The statement of the Board published on Monday shows that the men are at present actually driving or conducting for no more than 6 hours and 4 minutes in an average day, though various spells of waiting, meal-reliefs and so on bring the total average to just over 8 hours. Men get free uniforms, two weeks' holiday a year with pay and average earnings of & 14s. 2d. a week in the case of drivers and £4 7s. id. in the case of conductors. That the work is arduous and responsible no one questions, but the further reduction of the working day by half an hour would cost £650,000 a year for central 'busmen alone and more than double that if extended to all employees. The Board have proposed a Coronation truce, and offered a public enquiry, both of which the men have refused. As we write it is uncertain whether the intervention of the Ministry of Labour has been successful, though the Board is said to have agreed to various adjust- m mts to avoid abnormal strain on i:s employees. London 'bus drivers and conductors are deservedly popular with the public, but they are gravely mistaken if they think that a strike decision now would be tolerantly received. It would be regarded, in fact, as simple blackmail.
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