Cathel Kornig

A plus Dans le Bus

In France, as in many other countries, considerable attention has been paid to health and safety at work and more particularly to the psycho-social risks associated with work. A case study carried out among bus drivers in urban environments in five companies belonging to one of the largest French public transport groups reveals that drivers’ health and well-being at work has deteriorated even though the machinery and equipment they use have improved and working time has been reduced. Besides the usual risks to which bus drivers are exposed, new forms of work intensification have emerged, linked to budgetary constraints, urban policies, quality control, geolocation, and verbal and physical assaults. These factors influence working conditions and workloads. This raises the question of the resources deployed by the drivers and/or their representatives. Following Hirschman, various forms of exit are identified, although the new protective rights that have been introduced, which can be likened to a form of voice, do not seem strong enough to reduce the psycho-social risks.

How French Bus Drivers, Managers and Unions Talk About Incivility and Physical and Verbal Assaults at Work

This chapter offer to analyse a part of psychosocial risks of bus drivers in France. A qualitative study carried out with workplace bus drivers in the urban transport shows that in the companies investigated, there are clearly identified cases of physical assaults on drivers by passengers, individuals outside the bus and other road users. There is also the feeling that the drivers have to endure a growing number of various incivilities, rude, impolite behaviours. However, bus drivers have difficulties to objectify and evaluate this kind of risks. These risks are difficult to define exactly for bus drivers, for hierarchy, for unions too and there is no consensus about what’s constitutes an act of incivility and/or aggression. The instance of rudeness (spitting, swearing, etc.) affects some drivers more than others. It generates stress and fear and causes them to question their professional identity. The lack of common definitions, for the drivers, between them, unions and hierarchy could explain the difficulty to implement efficient policies within the firms.