Anyone who works on the tram, bus or subway can face accidents and threats. In recent weeks AT5 has spoken to dozens of GVB employees who say they are not supported after such incidents. According to them, they receive little postoperative care and are forced to return to work quickly. The urban transporter often places the blame on the employees. ”There are all kinds of great protocols. It’s a shame they don’t stick to that.”
GVB’s blue and white vehicles are an indispensable part of Amsterdam’s street scene. With 227 trams, 222 buses, 90 subways and 24 ferries, the transport company connects all parts of the city. Added together this is over 700,000 trips per day.
The GVB is essential for Amsterdam in another way too. With more than 4,500 employees, it is one of the city’s largest employers. Most GVB employees belong to the so-called “mobile personnel”: bus drivers, metro and tram drivers, ferry drivers and captains.
Six months ago, an internal study showed that the majority of drivers are burdened with a very high workload. AT5 published this article about it. We then received more than fifty responses from (former) GVB employees, who wrote to us that it’s not just the high workload. We had a longer discussion with twenty employees. They also gave us access to emails, letters, court documents and recordings of conversations. Most only wanted to speak to us anonymously because they feared their story might impact their work. Their names are known to the editorial staff.
One of the GVB employees we spoke to is bus driver Tanja Nolting. She tells her story in the video below:
Almost all employees say that working at GVB is fantastic. “You see the whole city and come into contact with all kinds of different people,” says one streetcar driver. “Conversing with Amsterdammers or tourists, helping people – that’s the best part.”
There is also a disadvantage. Many GVB employees who spoke to us have been involved in accidents or violent incidents during their work. That’s just part of the job, employees say. It is not without reason that during training they learned how to behave in an emergency.
But what worries GVB employees is how their employer behaves after such an incident. They do not feel supported, but rather distrusted and sometimes even downright opposed. Their stories vary. Some suffered a collision, others a serious accident. One was threatened by a colleague, another was beaten by a group of young people. But all these different cases have one thing in common: after the accident, GVB left its employees out.
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Avoid responsibility
The conversations reveal a picture of an organization willing to go to great lengths in these types of cases to avoid liability. This is evident, for example, from the story of a tram driver who was violently robbed at the end of his shift on his way to the depot. During the robbery he lost consciousness, but the accident was not classified by the GVB as an accident at work, despite the opinion to this effect of the company doctor and the UWV.
The host developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). According to his aides, this was a direct result of the robbery. But according to the GVB this connection could not be easily established, because the handler had also suffered from mental disorders in the past. His superiors also told him that it would be better if he did not tell his colleagues about the robbery. “This would only cause unrest, they said.”
”They just delay things until the deadline”
A tramman
It’s a tactic the city hauler uses more often, according to employees. A tram driver who suffered back problems due to emergency braking was informed by the GVB that her ailments may have been caused by her excess weight. The attempt to convince the GVB to classify the accident as an accident at work was of no avail. “My lawyer wanted to hold them accountable, but then all email correspondence with my manager suddenly disappeared. They just delay things until the deadline.
This also happened to the robbed train conductor. After retirement he received a letter from the pension fund informing him of the possibility of being entitled to an increase in compensation because he had suffered an accident at work. But when he turned to GVB once again, his manager told him by email that the accident was time-barred, “if it was an accident at work, because it is not safe for us.”
The story of the subway driver Clarice
On a cold November afternoon, subway driver Clarice exits the subway at the Zuid marshalling yard. It’s foggy and it rained. The “pedestrian platform”, an iron platform along the track, is smooth as a mirror. Clarice slips. After being taken to hospital by ambulance, her fibula was found broken. She is undergoing surgery. The bone chips are removed and metal pins are inserted into the bone. After three days she will be able to return home.
When he logs into his GVB account a week later, he sees that his absence is classified as a normal illness report and not an accident at work. ”I called them, they didn’t know anything. I then called the Labor Inspectorate and it turned out that GVB had not reported the accident at all.”
The Labor Inspectorate will carry out an inspection of the accident site. The inspector notes that the profile of the pedestrian platform is worn. GVB employees present say that the incidents occurred several times. GVB is fined.
Six months later the pedestrian platform has still not been replaced and GVB is fined again. Clarice received a request from her manager. She wants to check if there is tread under the shoes she was wearing. Clarice doesn’t understand why: the GVB dress code says nothing about the profile under the soles of the shoes.
Ultimately, under pressure from the Labor Inspectorate, the accident was classified as an accident at work. According to Clarice she is not appreciated for this. “My manager said I shouldn’t quit.”
Employees in the dock
After each accident, the GVB investigates how it could have happened. Many drivers and administrators who experience this situation feel like outlaws. If there is any doubt about the circumstances, the employee ends up in the dock. Sometimes literally.
A subway driver who rear-ended a light rail train with no passengers at the terminus has been fired. He said she had had a blackout. Since a medical reason was ruled out after the investigation, it must have been his fault, the GVB reasoned.
The judge overturned that decision. The GVB was not allowed to simply dismiss without evidence an employee who in its assessment had always performed well. The driver remained employed and was allowed to resume his old duties. At least from the judge. His manager only allowed him to ride the subway without passengers up to the departure and arrival points. “According to my boss, it was he who decided whether I could travel with the passengers and not the judge,” says the subway driver.
“According to my boss, he decided whether I could ride with passengers, not the judge.”
A subway driver
The GVB must report serious incidents to the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (IL&T). The transport company also claims to do this, but according to employees this is not always the case. The above incident was assessed by GVB itself as a non-serious incident, therefore only an internal investigation was necessary. During that investigation the incident was still classified as serious. But the GVB no longer informed the IL&T of this.
Accidents at work must also be reported to the Labor Inspectorate. But the GVB also sometimes tries to keep these incidents private, according to documents seen by AT5. This is against the law.
View GVB HR Director Peter Buisman’s response here:
AT 5
Inadequate after-sales support
Guidance from staff members who have experienced an accident is also often inadequate. If employees are threatened, the GVB encourages them to report the incident. According to its own company rules, Urban Trucking must guide its employees in this, but this was not the case with several GVB employees AT5 spoke to. “There are all kinds of helpful protocols,” says one bus driver. “It’s just a shame they don’t stick to that.”
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Some employees who have experienced a traumatic event have received support and a listening ear from their manager. “I had a good relationship with my boss, we were quite close,” says a subway driver. “If there was anything I could always contact him.”
But most GVB members AT5 spoke to could count on little sympathy. “You expect aftercare, but it doesn’t come,” says a subway driver. It’s a widely shared sentiment. After a fatal accident he was called a buoy of the OV-zorg, the security service of the GVB. ”Tram 26 had hit a motorcyclist. He died instantly. Both the driver and the driver had seen it. So we take them to the end point for treatment, but their manager didn’t think it was necessary. He just asked when they could drive again.”
The driver who was robbed was told the next day that he should just go back to work, because research had shown that was for the best. And a tram who suffered a hernia in a collision was told by traffic control to keep driving. When that proved impossible, she had to go to the emergency room unaccompanied. ”I waited there for four and a half hours alone. I was dying of pain. Eventually OVzorg came to me and asked if I wanted to collect my car from the GVB car park, because I had reserved a place for the evening service.”
The story of subway driver Floyd
Metro driver Floyd drives on line 51 towards Isolatorweg. At the stop Jan van Galenstraat sees from the cabin camera a man climbing onto the step in front of the subway door after the “doors closed” sign. The man then steps back, placing him back on the platform. The security system signals that Floyd can leave.
A few seconds later he sees on the same crude camera shot that people are gesturing on the platform. One of them is the one she just tried to enter. What Floyd doesn’t know at the time is that the man put his arm through the doors at the last moment and was stuck. He has to travel nine meters with the subway moving, until Floyd sees people gesturing, stops the subway and opens the doors.
Only at the end does he hear what happened. His manager asks him to come and write a statement in the draw booth. ”I said I had no idea what to write. But he put pressure on me, I had to make and sign a statement now.”
An investigation is launched. Floyd, who has worked at GVB for 27 years and has always received good reviews, receives a temporary driving ban. His manager tells him not to worry. But two weeks later he is summoned to headquarters. Although the safety signal was green, according to the GVB, Floyd was responsible for the accident. He gets fired.
Floyd disputes his firing. The judge ruled that the booth camera footage was so poor that it was almost impossible for him to see what was happening. Furthermore, the GVB produced illegal evidence against him: the images from the station’s cameras cannot be used against the employees. Floyd’s firing is overturned.
Called every other day
One thing was mentioned by all GVB employees who spoke to AT5: anyone who is sick is put under pressure by their manager to return to work as quickly as possible. “They call you every other day and ask what’s wrong,” says a subway driver. ”They sit in the company doctor’s chair. That’s not allowed at all, but if you’re inexperienced, obviously you’ll just tell them.”
A bus driver who had already been absent several times due to post-traumatic stress disorder and had fallen ill again had to let us know immediately if she could take on alternative work. When he said he needed to think about it, his manager said: “I want to know now. I assume you also want your money at the end of the month? Then I’d just reply.” He can be heard in the recording of a shared conversation with AT5.
A subway driver who said he would be absent for half a day for an appointment with his psychologist was so warned by his manager that he had to show confirmation of the appointment. Unable to find him, his boss asked him to call the office in his presence, via loudspeaker. This is against the law: employers cannot ask for appointment confirmations or other medical documents.
AT 5
According to employees who spoke to AT5, the GVB does not take such a harsh attitude towards all employees. Particularly affected are older workers, who earn more and are often more assertive. “Mistakes that others get away with are widely reported in our company,” says one subway train driver. “You have to come and do an interview every now and then.”
Conversation recordings show that some managers appreciate the informal nature of such conversations. “We won’t discuss everything in advance via email, that’s not how we do it here. We’ll just have a chat,” a chef tells a bus driver, in a recording obtained by AT5. Then “just chatting” turns out to be a serious conversation in which the employee has to justify himself.
Reports of these conversations often do not provide a true representation, the GVB say. “They distort your answer so that you seem to agree with everything,” says one bus driver. This was confirmed in the recording of the conversation of the president of the FNV sector, which represents the interests of the GVB members. “If I see a hundred reports of a hundred conversations, eighty are wrong,” he tells a subway engineer. Then he repeats it twice with slightly different words. In a response he states that he could have said that, but suspects it was taken out of context.
“You want your money at the end of the month too, don’t you?” Then I would just answer.”
A manager versus a bus driver
There is a “culture of mistrust” at GVB, says a subway driver. “You have the feeling that you are constantly being watched and that everything can be used against you.” Some employees point out that their managers are also under great pressure. “The team leaders can’t do much,” says a bus driver. “They also bear the full weight of their leaders.”
Anyone who wants to have fun working at GVB should stay away, says a bus driver. ”It’s a wonderful company. But you shouldn’t drive with damage and you shouldn’t get sick. Then you can make it here.”
*The employee names in the examples have been changed. Their real names are known to the editorial staff.
Response from the GVB
We acknowledge the majority of anonymized cases filed by AT5 over the past 3-10 years. However, we don’t talk about it in detail in the article. While there is sometimes another side of the story to be told, as a responsible employer we protect the privacy of our employees, even those who have been off duty for a long time. We think it’s very important.
Naturally, we are struck by the fact that these, mostly former employees, experienced the incidents in this way. We prefer that all colleagues feel listened to and supported and that, when they leave GVB, they do so with a largely positive feeling. This is obviously difficult in the event of dismissal.
It is suggested that the examples mentioned are not accidents but that a pattern exists. We don’t recognize it. However, we take all signals seriously and will investigate whether there are current cases where the points mentioned need to be improved.
We are a large, diverse organization with more than 4,500 employees. We are a reflection of society and an organization of diverse people. We believe that it is possible to find solutions not in anonymity, but among each other in an open conversation, no matter how difficult it may be in some situations. If certain situations do not want to be discussed with the manager, the integrity officer or internal confidants, there are also external and (also) independent confidants.
Colleagues who have experienced an accident are not abandoned to their fate. There is shelter, discussions and aftercare where needed. A clear protocol and a factual report (recorded by an independent party in case of serious incidents) are part of the procedure. We are aware that the outcome of this statement of facts is sometimes experienced differently by the employee involved.
The incident reporting procedures we follow apply nationwide and are also tested by an external supervisor. We report all incidents for which this applies to the Dutch Labor Inspectorate or the ILT. We think it’s very important. This is part of being a good employer.
We encourage our employees to report crime. Our Incident Desk proactively approaches the employee in question to provide support and relief. Fortunately, almost everyone uses it. If necessary, the Incident Desk also mediates between the employee and his manager. Or with victim assistance, if the employee wishes.
2024-01-20 06:00:00
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