The Department of Public Transportation and union officials were last night at loggerheads over a new bus rota with each side accusing the other of issuing “misinformation”.As reported in The Royal Gazette yesterday, the schedule was due to come into effect on Monday but was sent back to the drawing board after drivers raised objections.Bermuda Industrial Union president Chris Furbert said the main problem was that senior operators would have to work more weekends.The Department issued a press release just before 5pm yesterday denying that was the case and claiming only four operators in Dockyard would be affected.It also revealed it had been trying to negotiate a new rota with the BIU for eight years.The Department said it was clarifying “misinformation reported in the media concerning proposed changes to bus operator rosters”; no one from the Department would speak directly to this newspaper.A spokesman was quoting as saying: “Bermuda Industrial Union president Mr Chris Furbert is misinformed about the details of the proposed rosters.”Mr Furbert hit back, claiming Government had it wrong. “I resent people calling me a liar,” he said. “I know about the rosters. They don’t have a clue what they are talking about. The information they are putting out is not correct. Apparently the [Transport] Minister is misinformed too.”He explained that 103 individual rosters were drawn up for each season and bus operators got to choose their preferred one, with senior employees getting first pick. The more popular rosters tend not to include weekend shifts.The Department’s press release said there would be double the number of “weekend off” winter rosters available to pick from under the proposed new schedule, as well as more “weekend off” summer rosters.It admitted there were fewer “weekend off” summer rosters available on routes starting at Dockyard but said senior drivers would be able to bid to work less weekends in winter.“The decrease in Dockyard ‘weekend off’ rosters is due to service realignments which will be of direct benefit to the riding public,” the release stated.“There are many changes to the proposed rosters that will benefit the bus operators [and] the public and [will] improve efficiency.”The Department’s press release said the new schedule was devised to:l give consecutive days off to all operators;l provide increased service on Sunday mornings;l provide increased service after 8pm;l cut out “short-turn” routes to Grotto Bay, meaning all route one and three buses would run to the St. George terminal;l cut out “short-turn” routes to Barnes Corner, meaning all buses on routes seven and eight would go to the Maritime Museum in Dockyard;l get rid of Somerset buses, so all seven and eight routes would start and end at the Maritime Museum;l remove the need for overtime and heighten the reliability of the service.Mr Furbert said the union had only been told about the first item on the list.Glen Simmons, president of the BIU’s bus operators and allied workers division, said the Department had known workers were unhappy with the new system since a meeting held in August.The Department spokesman said: “The Ministry is sensitive to the needs of the public, the employees and the Government purse strings. A delicate balance must be found and the Department has been careful to consider all sides.“Returning to the negotiating table after eight years of working with the union to get the new rosters in place is one more example of our commitment to consultation with all parties involved.”