The man behind the wheel during Friday’s horrific bus had “been working for more than 13 hours a day for several consecutive days,” William Chung Chak Man, head of operations for New World First Bus and Citybus, told Radio Television Hong Kong yesterday.
The revelation came just a day after the Hong Kong bus driver’s union demanded a review of their salary scale and working hours, factors they say has led to an over-reliance on overtime.
The accident in Hong Kong’s Sham Shui Po district, which killed three and injured 29, occurred at about 6pm when the double decker bus jumped the curb and plowed into a railing and overhanging building canopy where a group of pedestrians was standing.
In a hastily organized press conference on Sunday, the Federation of Bus Industry Trade Unions (FBITU) said it was high time for the government to look at issues they say are driving a labor shortage in the field.
“The Transport Department should immediately look at if the working guidelines for bus drivers make sense and conduct reviews on the maximum working hours, driving hours and base salaries for bus drivers,” the group said in a statement obtained by Coconuts Hong Kong.
Drivers for local bus operator Citybus, for instance, have a basic starting salary of about HK$13,000 (US$1,664) a month. That figure can reach about HK$16,374 (US$2,095) with other allowances included, and HK$19,000 (US$2,430) with overtime allowances, the union said.
The union has been pushing the Transport Department since 2013 to lower the maximum working hours from the current 14-hour cap to 12 hours a day, and the maximum driving hours from 11 hours to 10.
In March, the Transport Department said no review was needed as the union proposal had failed to gain support from the city’s bus companies or other labor unions.
In a statement of its own released on Sunday, Citybus argued that its salary scale is on par with market standards. The average monthly income is about HK$15,000 for new bus drivers and HK$19,000 for veterans, with an average working day of 10 hours.
But those working hours don’t mesh with numbers reported in a Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions survey released in February.
Among 255 drivers interviewed, more than 45 percent of respondents said they have to work more than 68 hours per week, compared to the median working hours of 44 hours in other industries.
The union said at the time that long working hours could impact drivers’ physical and mental health, creating a potential safety risk, and called on the government to standardize working hours.
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