More than 23,000 people have signed a petition in support of a five-foot bus driver who was sacked because she could not use the wing mirrors safely.
Mother-of-three Tracey Scholes, 57, was one of the first female bus drivers in Manchester and has driven buses for 34 years. But when Go North West changed the position of their buses’ wing mirrors, the 57-year-old widow had to lean around a pillar to see them, meaning she could not keep her feet on the pedals.
Mrs Scholes was offered a different role on the company’s school buses, which had more suitable mirrors, but the change would have meant a reduction in pay and hours worked. She turned down the offer and she was given notice. The business said they had made ‘numerous proposals’ to keep her in the company.
After an appeal, with Mrs Scholes garnering support from a string of celebrities, the company agreed to offer the bus driver her current pay rate but with reduced hours, meaning she would still be losing £230 a month, the Unite union said.
Mrs Scholes, from Heywood, is now making a second appeal to keep her current hours – which would mean working just one extra hour a day. She faces the final appeal against the decision on Tuesday.
She told, I’ve had comments, sexual remarks, a lot of things. And I’ve dealt with that. I’ve not gone to management – I’ve gone and solved it and hit it head on, Scholes said. When I started that job 34 years ago, I could drive everything in that depot.
And since they’ve done this, I can’t drive that bus now. If a bicycle or pedestrian was to walk up the near side of the vehicle … I can’t see that, it blocks my vision, and that’s not safe.
After news of her plight was made public, a petition was set up to support her and has since garnered more than 23,000 signatures in three weeks. The petition’s objective states that it is calling on the company ‘to reinstate Tracey Scholes with no loss of pay/no loss of hours and show that ‘Go-Ahead Group’ values loyal key workers.
In addition to the 23,000 people who have signed the petition so far, Mrs Scholes has received support from celebrities such as Maxine Peake.