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DUBLIN BUS DRIVERS are resorting to urinating in bottles due to the lack of access to toilet facilities, particularly on longer routes across the service.
A source within the National Bus and Rail Union told TheJournal.ie that the company has started to “crack the whip” with drivers who request a toilet break.
They said drivers have to ask permission to stop in at a local depot if nature calls, but that their supervisors have now started writing up reports about the disruption to the service if they do this.
“One driver said he was questioned by a manager over a number of these reports.”
All of the depots have toilet facilities, but it becomes an issue for drivers on longer routes from one side of the city to the other, particularly if they terminate at one end in a housing estate or another location without facilities.
“What’s happening in some places is that drivers are urinating in bottles. We’ve had complaints from people in housing estates saying they don’t want their kids looking out the window and seeing the driver urinating at the bus,” the source explained.
“From the female perspective, it’s even worse. If they have the time of the month and they have to drive, for example, from Rathfarnham all the way over to the northside in one go, there’s nothing at either end. That could be over two and a half hours.”
The NBRU is asking the company to provide proper toilet facilities at terminuses and is requesting that drivers be allowed to use toilets at depots without being reported or questioned about it.
“They should have access to basic facilities,” the union source said.
Dublin Bus said: “It is not possible to provide our own toilet facilities at termini across the city due to our extensive route network. However, drivers are advised to use the toilet facilities of local amenities.”
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Why don’t they just wear nappies to work like everyone else.
@O Swetenham: such a total bullshitt statement.
There’s no flies on you Pete.
@O Swetenham: Only on his nappy.
@O Swetenham: You jest (I hope so anyway), and yet apparently this is what ‘self employed’ drivers for delivery firms in the UK have been complaining they have been forced into out of sheer necessity. Utterly shameful.
@O Swetenham: idiot
@Peter Kelly: childish
@O Swetenham: Surely someone’s taking the piss…..
@O Swetenham: thats taking the piss
“But, but, I read in the Independent that Dublin Bus drivers make €100,000 a year and they only work 10 hours a week. It was in the Independent so it has to be true!”
@Franklin Roosevelt: *Sprays cider over smartphone* €100,000?! That’s disgraceful! We need driverless buses now!!! *carries on ranting*
@Harry Whitehead: “This paper is owned by a billionaire who made his money by very dodgy dealings, it has to be true!”
@Franklin Roosevelt: Good god..!! And I am sure he washed his hands before giving customers their change..!!!!
That’s be the No. 1 bus so…
What a pisstake!!!
I can understand driving from say Castletownbere to Belfast. But how long are the routes in Dublin!!!
@TractorPat: not very, most should be able to go 4-5 hours without needing a toilet back at a bare minimum.
@Paul: you never know paul!! I’d say anyone should try hold it for their next break from work instead of going out to piss whenever they need to!!
I reckon it’d be more difficult than we think!!
@TractorPat: Plenty of Pubs/Resturaunts etc. along the way to do a quickie and passengers won’t mind.
@Andy Byrne: If they were to keep holding on, day after day, they would end up with Kidney or Bladder stones. That is not acceptable.
@TractorPat:
The Bus Eireann drivers on the popular Belfast-Castletownbere Express Route will be Monsignor now if you’re not careful
*moaning
Stupid autocorrect
@Richard Wright: what happens if they have a NUMBER 2? Doggy bag I suppose.
@Stephen murphy: You’re on the Journal here mate, there’d be phucking murder!
More strikes on the way or pay rises
@Tom Harpur: mgmt are not saying one cannot go to the loo. They ask that they use local amenities at a terminus. Seems common sense to me as against setting up portaloos at each end point. If they allow loo breaks in the middle of the route that is a serious inconvenience for the paying customer. Definitely sounds like the opening salvo of a pay claim to me.
My next door neighbour is a driver for Dublin Bus, and he urinates in bottles all the time…..even at home. He’s a dirt bird….
@Ricardo Shillyshally: how do you know
Some routes can be up to 2hrs one way. No toilet facilities at that terminus. So holding for another 2hrs on the way back. Then you might not have needed to go before you started work. So the time could be quite long between relieving ones self. I’m actually bursting now after just reading this. Damn…
I understand now why some bus drivers drive so fast :(
Smart arśe comments abound. Easy to pass judgement on something you can’t relate to because it doesn’t apply to you. This is the 21st century for God’s sake! Yet again management treat staff like dirt & commentators here treat them with utter contempt.
Ask yourselves, if your immediate bosses said you couldn’t use the loo when you needed would you be happy? Of course you wouldn’t. After all it’s Harley your fault… when you’ve got to go you’ve got to go. As another poster said it’s not like anyone’s being asked to reinvent the wheel after all. Now, imagine someone who has ulcerative colitis or crohns disease being denied access to toilets. Does that seem fair to you?
@Matt Donovan: drivers are Not being denied permission to go to the loo. But if going to the loo is the reason that a bus misses a journey, then that had to be logged (excuse the pun) for the NTA. They need to know why a bus is missing.
@Matt Donovan: It isn’t fair. In fact, some might say that the discomfort experienced by a need to use the toilet especially with Crohn’s Disease or Irritable Bowel Syndrome could be seen as a distraction to the driver.
Distractions of any form are dangerous!
After all, isn’t there a sign near the front of the bus warning passengers not to distract the driver while the bus is in motion?
The movement of a bus can also compound a need for a bathroom break!
A bus driver should be relaxed and comfortable while on duty.
@The Watcher: yes they are being denied permission. You might want to get your facts straight before you start trolling.
@Matt Donovan: where does it say that they’re being denied ?
@Siobhán Ni Mhurchú: I work for Dublin bus, I’ve been denied the use of toileting facilities &I’m aware of quite a few others.
@Matt Donovan: yes agreed I suspect the replys are from smug well paid office workers who can take their unrestricted toilet breaks, but as most but not all are Irish bus drivers who they feel are lesser beings than themselves , so they feel safe making a joke of them, of what is a basic human right to use toilet facilities.
Why not examine how London bus drivers deal with this problem and copy their example if possible. I’m sure we don’t have to try and reinvent the wheel on this one
@Michael Dowd: they stop at Waterloo station
that’s taking the piss..
@kjholt:
No its keeping it…
Ah never shake a bus drivers hand
If your starting your shift and the previous driver offers you a bottle of Lilt…it most likely not a bottle of Lilt..
Who the hell says ” if a female has the time of the month ” a 10 year old child .
@Denis Silver: Couldn’t spell ‘menstruating’.
@Ian Heaton: it was a quote Ian.
@Ian Heaton: that’s a big word Ian ya better lay down now for a bit
Well boys pay ruses come with consequences. How much more would u all like to make the problem go away!!!
@Paul: the only ones mentioning money are you & your fellow trolls. Interesting that…
Toilet at every bus stop only answer
I’m glad they don’t handle the money anymore
It has been my considered opinion that bus routes should have “halting” stops where a bus would wait so it could leave at a specified departure time. It is greatly frustrating on some routes to see buses bunch up cause the first has to stop and the second catches up and you wait an hour and then 3 buses turn up…… this would also solve the problem trying guess the departure time of buses half way along a route…. there could also be used for linking routes and passenger transfers…. Rathmines could be a good holding area for outbound buses for example, and this would be an ideal location to put staff toilets………………….. solve three problems in one go and provide a better service too…
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: have you ever been through Rathmines? Given the lack of places to safely hold a bus, the number of routes, the complete disregard for parking by, cars, vans, trucks etc & the complete lack of enforcement by the gardai of such issues just where in Rathmines do you propose to solve 3 problems in 1?
Is this the start of the next pay claim, getting in early arent you….. Get over it. Use the bathroom on your break. Its not rocket science.
Reminds me of that bottle of orange I picked up last week. Smelled absolutely putrid and tasted even worse
Shocking news just what the rest of the country never expected and wanted to hear, was worried sick all day that something terrible like this could be happening in Dublin Bus, hope to god that Monday will bring much better news from the capital.
They wouldn’t dare if John Wayne was alive !
One way forward althought it would take years to roll out would be all new buses purchased for new fleets would have toilet facilties…for staff only..
Point is clearly being missed it is the disciplinary action being taken against drivers who request to use a toilet that is at issue here and it is amazing the majority of comments come from male keyboard warriors.Dublin Bus ran an exhaustive campaign to recruit female drivers and expect them to drive also for in excess of 5 hours with no access to sanitary facilities should they require them and in fact in some of the depots there is not even access to female sanitary products should they require them considering most work after shops are close if they caught short surely a semi state company should provide even basic toilet facilities now the male keyboard warriors go home and discuss the matter with your wives girlfriend or sister and see what reaction they give u. Won’t be so brave
sure why dont management buy them all one of these devices https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FDH7NM2/ref=sspa_dk_detail_7?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01FDH7NM2&pd_rd_wg=hwai4&pd_rd_r=XJCG6V592FGFF3J85YNZ&pd_rd_w=SvPRP
Too much information.
The No. 1 Dublin bus drivers go to the loo in a small super market near the terminus. No, not IN the shop , I hope ! There should be shops on a retainer for DB toilet breaks …
What sort of person reports a colleague for going to the toilet ? Is this how people behave in Dublin Bus
They couldn’t organise a piss up on a bus
And what do the male drivers do??
Taxi drivers are same but they are just using walls or green if they are outside of town. Only city who has no public toilets around town. Dublin City Council shame on u
If aircraft commanders can do it, why can’t bus drivers!
@Missyb211: auto pilot & co pilot(s), do try to keep up.
IT MAKES ME LATH,,,,.
HOW ABOUT PASSANGERS DONT WE DESERVE TO GO AS WELL,,,,HYMMMM,,,,THAT LITTLE OLD LADY WHOM COULDNT GO BECAUSE THERE WAS NO TOILET ON THE BUS FROM WEXFORD TO DUBLIN,,,,,SHAME,,,SHAME,,,SHAME,,,THE BUS DRIVERS SHOULD TAKE A HIT FROM RISES TO PAY FOR A REFIT OF TOILETS ON THE BUSSES,,,,,THERE OVER PAID LAYABOUTS,,,,.
@Michael Donovan: you said that all in block capitals so your opinion must be valid.
@Matt Donovan:
Thanks Matt,,,I’ll keep it small next time.
The failure of the Corpo to provide public lavatories in Dublin is a disgrace.In my youth there were such facilities available.Now they are all closed down,and you can piss anywhere, except in a lavatory provided by the Corpo.!
Minister Ross and members of board should be put on a bus on a 5 hour journey without access to toilet facilities…..somebody would come up with a solution
Ahh your taking the piss ??
@Tricksy: you mean, don’t take the piss!
I can smell a strike coming on—or wait, is that what I can smell?!?!?
Harley’s constantly on the mind eh Matt
@Gar Hanlon: yeah, sometimes autocorrect comes up with some good ones. Only copped that when you said it
Here we go again…. How long until another strike?
The boyos in the speed vans must have en suites.
They should Slash those routes and tell the drivers to piddle off!
Is that why the London Routemaster buses had the driver area isolated from the rest of the vehicle? So the driver could “piss-in-peace” without making a stop?
That accounts for what I saw on the bus the other day!
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