Woman bus driver in Spain faces sack over toilet breaks
A bus company has launched an investigation into one of its drivers for taking her bus off route... to answer a call of nature.
A Spanish bus driver is facing suspension after she made an unscheduled stop in order to relieve herself.
The driver who drives in the city of Fuenlabrada, just south of Madrid, has been suspended for four days without pay and could lose her job after an investigation was opened by the city’s public transport provider, EMTF.
The investigation was opened after the driver took an unscheduled toilet break on December 11th 2015.
At around 7.35am the driver, who has not been named, radioed her superior and said she was going to use the facilities of the Municipal Transport (EMT) depot, where her bus was parked, and located around 600 metres from the start of her bus route.
"After receiving a negative from your superior," reads the sanction, "you replied that all the local cafes were closed, which was why you were going to use the depot, leaving the route, contravening the direct instructions you received and causing a 12 minute delay in leaving the depot."
The EMT states in the sanction that there is a ban on "leaving the route to use the depot’s toilet facilities". The transport body also claims that the driver in question repeated the offence on two more occasions, which implies "an undisciplined and rebellious attitude" in complying with the bus company’s rules.
But the worker has been receiving support from local politicians, reported Spanish daily, La Razon.
Sergio López, spokesman for the conservative Popular Party, described the treatment she had received as "demeaning" and has called for more bathroom facilities to be opened along the bus routes.
Councillor Isidoro Ortega, who is in charge of Public Companies, announced that an agreement had been reached with local café owners to let the bus drivers use their facilities.
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A Spanish bus driver is facing suspension after she made an unscheduled stop in order to relieve herself.
The driver who drives in the city of Fuenlabrada, just south of Madrid, has been suspended for four days without pay and could lose her job after an investigation was opened by the city’s public transport provider, EMTF.
The investigation was opened after the driver took an unscheduled toilet break on December 11th 2015.
At around 7.35am the driver, who has not been named, radioed her superior and said she was going to use the facilities of the Municipal Transport (EMT) depot, where her bus was parked, and located around 600 metres from the start of her bus route.
"After receiving a negative from your superior," reads the sanction, "you replied that all the local cafes were closed, which was why you were going to use the depot, leaving the route, contravening the direct instructions you received and causing a 12 minute delay in leaving the depot."
The EMT states in the sanction that there is a ban on "leaving the route to use the depot’s toilet facilities". The transport body also claims that the driver in question repeated the offence on two more occasions, which implies "an undisciplined and rebellious attitude" in complying with the bus company’s rules.
But the worker has been receiving support from local politicians, reported Spanish daily, La Razon.
Sergio López, spokesman for the conservative Popular Party, described the treatment she had received as "demeaning" and has called for more bathroom facilities to be opened along the bus routes.
Councillor Isidoro Ortega, who is in charge of Public Companies, announced that an agreement had been reached with local café owners to let the bus drivers use their facilities.
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