VOTING on LIEU DAYS:          
 "THE CASE FOR"
 

Enforcer - in that scenario, you would win again, as you would get paid at holiday rate for that day, and still have the three lieu days to take when you wanted! In all this and other discussions I've had on this, I've heard a lot of good arguments for acceptance, and not one reasoned argument against, most of these simply being along the lines of 'I don't want change, because change means I have to think and I'm scared it might give someone else an opportunity to out-think me.' In my opinion, we should vote the change through, because it offers, at the bare minimum, the chance to earn exactly the same money as now, but to work one less day per year for it. That's before you look at any complex calculations on lieu day rates, holiday enhancements etc. etc. To the dissenters, I respect your right to your opinions, but consider this: the world is changing, with or without Lothian Buses. To the general public, Victoria Day and Good Friday are becoming increasingly irrelevant, m!
ore and more people are working and require public transport to provide it. Lothian Buses can either change with it, in which case it needs to negotiate the cooperation of its staff, which I believe it has on this issue, or it can sit on its backside and do nothing to provide the service people need, in which case they start to look elsewhere. If that happens, who do you think is going to provide the buses? Firstbus? Maybe Stagecoach? Whoever it was, it would strengthen their position in Edinburgh and weaken Lothian's. Imagine the situation five years from now, when they've adapted and Lothian has stayed where it is. We'd be sleepwalking towards a takeover - and what do you think would happen to our conditions then? I'll tell you - you'd be made redundant, finishing up on a Friday, and be offered your job back on the Monday, provided you signed a standard contract of employment, and waved bye-bye to all your terms and conditions.

Don't make the mistake of thinking it couldn't! happen - it COULD, it WOULD and it's happened before. And before anyone assumes I'm a manager in drag, I'm just a driver with the intelligence and background knowledge to see the bigger picture. VOTE YES.  [MAY '08]

Lee Thwock

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