North London bus drivers strike over sweltering conditions and lack of cooling

Late last week, over 1,500 Arriva bus drivers in north London launched a planned 26-day strike, citing cabin temperatures that can rise above 40 °C, broken air-conditioning, and a shortage of toilets that forces drivers to limit water intake. Unite, the union leading the action, says drivers have experienced heat exhaustion, heatstroke and dehydration since the heatwave began in May. Arriva, which posted a pre-tax profit of £133 million, claims to have introduced short-term safeguards and is investing in longer-term cab upgrades, but disputes responsibility for driver conditions, warning of penalties from Transport for London.

The strike highlights a systemic failure in the UK and elsewhere to protect workers from immediate climate impacts, echoed by reports from the Royal College of Nursing, a University of Reading construction survey, and heat-related deaths in the US and Spain. Calls for a mandatory maximum workplace temperature are growing, with a private-member’s bill and an upcoming Health and Safety Executive consultation, yet the prime minister’s spokesperson says no such rule is planned. The episode underscores the tension between profit-driven operators and workers confronting increasingly hostile summer conditions.