IT’S probably as close to time travel as we’ll ever get: the chance to travel on a vintage bus through the streets of Glasgow during the West End Festival over the last few days. Glaswegians feel deeply nostalgic about their buses, trams and trains, but the service has not always run to plan.
Seventy-years ago, in November 1941, the municipal bus drivers and conductors based at Knightswood Garage went on strike over new duty schedules. Staff at Larkfield and Parkhead then came out in sympathy and Army and RAF vehicles were drafted in keep services going.
In this picture, staff at Larkfield are discussing their position ahead of a mass meeting where a decision was taken to end the strike. According to The Glasgow Herald, there was evidence that the strike was not popular among the majority of workers: “That was very obvious yesterday, when the decision to resume work was strongly supported by the Parkhead and Larkfield drivers and conductresses.”
The Herald said there were stormy encounters between speakers and members of the audience. “A number of fights broke out among drivers and several conductresses were carried out in a fainting condition.".
In the end, the united vote of the Parkhead and Larkfield employees was sufficient to produce an overwhelming majority in favour of calling off the strike.
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