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Originally Posted by Irish Examiner
Luas workers subjected to racial taunting every day
By Noel Baker
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
BLACK bus drivers have been urinated on and some foreign nationals working in Dublin are subjected to daily racial taunting, according to a report.
The study, focussing on the experiences of racism of people in the capital, was commissioned by the Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) and launched yesterday by the city’s Lord Mayor, Andrew Montague.
Based on personal testimony garnered through one-on-one interviews, the report’s findings included:
- In August 2010, a group of people aged between 18 to 20 boarded a Dublin Bus but refused to pay. When the driver refused to move the bus until the fares were paid he was racially abused, and on paying the group went upstairs and urinated on the floor above the driver’s seat.
- One black Luas driver has been assaulted at least five times at work, with an October 2008 assault involving perpetrators aged between 15 and 20 yelling abuse into the emergency intercom on the platform, threatening to kill him. The assault meant he was off work for three months.
- One African family had to leave their home after eggs were thrown at their front door, their car was vandalised and their house was burgled.
- A revenue protection officer on the Luas said she experiences racist verbal abuse four or five times each day and has been physically assaulted seven times.
Brian Brennan, the managing director of Veolia Transport, operators of the Luas in Dublin, said the company had assisted one employee in bringing a case of racism against an abuser to court. The outcome was that the judge told the perpetrator to apologise to the victim, but no other action was taken.
Mr Brennan said this had a demoralising effect on the victim and on the Veolia workforce, adding that the company would like to see strong legal enforcement in relation to racist incidents.
Luas management has sourced a specialist training company to provide training in conflict avoidance.
Denise Charlton, the ICI chief executive, said other passengers often turned "a blind eye" to abuse suffered by others, adding that racist abuse could not be tolerated, a point echoed by the lord mayor.
Dublin Bus is developing a reporting structure for racist abuse of bus-drivers and is liaising with gardaÃ* in relation to follow-up actions.
Representatives of An Garda SÃ*ochána were not at the report launch but stressed that each divisional area has designated Garda ethnic liaison officers and that complaints are treated seriously.
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05-10-2011, 12:23
[article] Luas workers subjected to racial taunting every day
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