Speaking up

The arrogance manifested by the bus drivers and their association's industrial action must not be tolerated.

If the older people chose to unite on a national political platform, and harnessed their numerical strength through the ballot box, they could form an irresistible political front which could shape decisions to their advantage. Parliament could be persuaded to triple pensions for the elderly, to subsidise community care or to make public transportation free for the seniors. Obviously, other spending programmes would suffer, like, for instance, bus subsidies; but the theoretical position is true enough.

For example: in the United Kingdom, the 1992 general election gave 49 per cent of the vote to the Conservatives, 31 per cent to Labour and 13 per cent to Liberal Democrats. On the evidence of specific manifesto pledges to older citizens, this is not the way one would have expected self-interested senior citizens to vote.

One should not conclude that the older voters are not self-interested. The bus association's behaviour and lack of concern towards the elderly and pensioners calls for censure. There are laws to prevent racial and sex discrimination. There are countries that have laws to combat age discrimination.

The current dispute by the bus association compels one to look at different areas where the older people have reported a sense of discrimination - a sense of being pre-judged as worthless and "second rate".

Be that as it may, whatever ones' views about the legislation may be, the important issue is whether the sense of discrimination is a real substantial issue and must not be swept beneath the carpet!

The bus drivers fail to understand the time when older people needed to board or get off a bus; the lack of public provisions are widely critical. At issue is that of the "human touch". The bus owners' association is intentionally targeting the younger, perhaps richer rider, the busy commuter, the car using shopper? Older people are equal members of society and should be treated as such.