'Hero' Bus Driver Sacked

Started by Bus 400, June 07, 2009, 01:29:03 PM

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Bus 400

Quote from: PerthNow
'Hero' bus driver sacked for coming to woman's aid
EXCLUSIVE: Anthony Deceglie
June 06, 2009 06:00pm
EXCLUSIVE: A MADDINGTON bus driver described as a hero by his union has been sacked for coming to the defence of a female colleague.
Ken McMahon, 39, intervened on Wednesday morning when a drunken passenger he had kicked off his bus started harassing an off-duty bus driver on the footpath.
The 35-year-old woman, who was waiting to say hello to Mr McMahon, was a few feet away from the bus when the drunken passenger was told to leave. The incident occurred in Victoria Park and the woman was in uniform.
``He was attacking her and I went to protect her,'' Mr McMahon told The Sunday Times.
``He took one swing and I hit him one time and stopped him in his tracks. He was a large, intoxicated and aggressive -- an abusive male who was right in her face, fists clenched, chasing her down the footpath screaming all sorts of obscenities at her.''
Mr McMahon, who has been a bus driver for Swan Transit for 18 months and has martial-arts training, said company policy forbids him to leave his bus to aid anyone in trouble.
``So, I lost my job over the incident,'' he said. ``They called me in on Thursday afternoon and I was sacked.
``The lady is a close friend, so I clearly would not stand by and let the situation escalate to the point where she was physically battered.''
The Transport Workers Union described Mr McMahon as a hero.
Witness statements, including from the woman, support Mr McMahon's version of events.
``Ken was the only one who came to protect me,'' the woman said in a written statement to Swan Transit.
``No one walking on the street did anything.''
However, Swan Transit director Neil Smith said the woman was threatened verbally, but not physically, so Mr McMahon's actions were an over-reaction.
``We dismiss very few people and we are extremely careful about the procedures we use to do so,'' Mr Smith said.
Mr Smith said CCTV footage showed the woman under threat was walking away from the drunken male and speaking on her mobile phone.
He said Mr McMahon did not have to hit the drunken man.
``There would have been easier ways to restrain the person other than the way that went on,'' he said.
``The violence used was completely disproportionate, even if there was a genuine problem.''
The matter is expected to go to arbitration in the next six weeks.
TWU spokesman Paul Aslan said he was disgusted by the decision to sack Mr McMahon for helping a colleague.
In April bus drivers threatened to walk off the job unless demands for greater protection were met.
Mr Aslan said Mr McMahon's dismissal could be the final straw, provoking widespread union action, including stopwork meetings and industrial action. He said Mr McMahon should be commended, not fired, for his actions.
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,25597293-2761,00.html

Ed

QuoteHowever, Swan Transit director Neil Smith said the woman was threatened verbally, but not physically, so Mr McMahon's actions were an over-reaction.

``There would have been easier ways to restrain the person other than the way that went on,'' he said.

``The violence used was completely disproportionate, even if there was a genuine problem.''

So in order to protect his job, the driver should have replied to the drunkard somewhere along the lines of; "Please sir, insult me and my colleague some more and please punch me in the face while you are at it"

I'm starting to question whether Neil Smith has any experience in the transport industry and whether he is just a "paper pushing armchair warrior". There are bus companies around (government and private) that employ these incompetent paper pushing armchair warriors as heads. This is why I am grateful that most if not all ACTION heads (ranging from the supervisors to the general manager himself) were former drivers.

As for the union action, I fully support TWU all the way. There is a reason why 98% of all ACTION drivers are TWU.

Bus 400

On Australian Transport Discussion Board, the TWU Rep for Transperth sates that he was in the Swan Transit office supporting the driver, but Swan Transit minds had already been made up.

But I do wonder if things could of been different if the driver stayed in his bus & just run the attacker over? He didn't leave his bus.

Ed

#3
QuoteSwan Transit minds had already been made up.

So that means that there were a select few heads that didn't support the driver.