Cricklewood is one of London’s biggest garages. Its 600 drivers operate 17 routes, including the busy number 16 through central London which Ali drove. With five different shifts, drivers say it can be hard to detect when a colleague is missing. TfL has refused to disclose the location of garages where COVID-19 deaths have occurred. Nor will they say how many drivers have been diagnosed and hospitalised with the virus across London. Workers at Cricklewood say that unsafe working conditions are killing drivers. So far, 33 London bus drivers have died from coronavirus. Occupational data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Monday shows that bus drivers in England and Wales are dying from COVID-19 five times faster than National Health Service (NHS) workers. Drivers feel they are “expendable like diesel.”
— source wsws.org | 13 May 2020