Manchester – Controversy over very small bus driver in Panorama

According to current data, the average English woman measures 1.62 meters, which is 13 centimeters shorter than the Duchess of Cambridge, but ten centimeters taller than Tracy Scholes, a bus driver from Manchester. The height of 40-year-old Duchess Gate in England recently has not been an issue, but the height of 57-year-old Tracy Scholes. On Tuesday afternoon, protesters even wanted a local bus driver in Manchester because of Sholes and his 1.52 meters.

Go North West, which has been operating public bus services in Manchester since 2019, made it public a few weeks ago that it had stopped scholes because the new buses were too small to operate safely. The British media are constantly reporting on big and small personal rules somewhere in the kingdom, and Tracy Scholes’ story initially appeared as one of the local acts lost in the sea of ​​those stories. But then a few celebrities found out about it, for example the cast of the popular series “Coronation Street”, and the Tracy Scholes campaign on social media. In 1987, she became the first female bus driver in the area, and she, a widow with three children, will be evicted after 34 years because of her height: a scandal, isn’t it?

Support for Scholes increased, a petition was launched, 25,000 people signed, and outrage increased. A friendly spokesman for the company said in a telephone conversation on Tuesday that it had “flattered” enthusiastically, even in the international media.

The spokeswoman says she was the only one who complained

It is one of the five largest private bus operators in the UK. Outside of London in particular, bus transport has always been a political issue and, after all, the government only controls the routes and prices in London. Other parts of the country are often more about business than basic services, and many companies have long recognized that exterior mirrors, for example, reduce profits. There are many narrow streets in British cities, which is why it is not uncommon for buses to get stuck somewhere with wing glass. To minimize damage, there has been a plan in Manchester for several years to replace the outdoor exterior mirrors with new mirrors integrated into the bus. Last year Tracy Scholes came up with a system of buses that ran 25 hours a week.

A company spokesman says Scholes was the tallest two bus drivers in Manchester, but he complained that the new mirrors just made him sit back without being able to reach the pedals. She was given various options including that she can start her way at the bus station in the morning, where she can choose a bus that suits her. He refused due to unfavorable working hours, so he was offered a job as a school bus driver on the same pay. Only: School buses do not run 25 hours a week, so Scholes will have to accept a practical reduction in their pay. “Loyalty no longer counts,” Tracy Scholes told the BBC, disappointed she could not earn less. “I’m being punished. I can not help it.”

She also cleans the buses and the main thing is that she keeps her job, Shoals added. Clean the buses? The spokesman did not want to comment, but one could assume that the unions, which have long been active in the Scholes affair, would not have responded enthusiastically to such a concession. In the end, the spokesman said, there was no other option but to end the employment relationship. There is no happy ending to this story, this primary conflict in the community, big and small.

On Tuesday, the two sides met again at the company’s headquarters in Manchester, which was discussed, with both sides initially reluctant to say anything. The notice period ends on February 5th.