Solid support – again

London bus drivers’ strike action today (February 5) across the capital saw solid support, as up to 20,000 bus workers walked out for a second time to end pay inequality and secure one collective agreement for pay and conditions.

 
Picket lines were in place outside London’s 70 bus garages, widely attended by bus workers demanding that the city’s 18 bus operators come to the table and resolve the dispute.

 
Unite today accused TfL of being ‘wildly optimistic’ with its claims of the number of buses on the road today.

 
“Once again, we’ve seen solid support by bus workers determined to end the pay chaos on London’s buses,” said Unite regional officer Wayne King.

 
Crawling in the dirt

 
Unite regional officer John Murphy, supporting bus workers at the New Cross bus garage this morning, explained why bus drivers have been driven to breaking point.

 
“The average London bus driver should be paid the average London bus driver’s wage,” he said. “Their wages vary by about £3 an hour – it doesn’t seem like much when you put it in those terms, but it amounts to £6,000 a year in the end. That’s a £6,000 year difference for driving the same route, and using the same buses.”

 
“Bus drivers’ wages haven’t kept up with the cost of living,” he added. “They’ve been pretty stagnant in the last five years. Our people are really struggling on these wages – it’s not about what we can’t afford to buy, it’s about what we weren’t able to pay for this week. Bus drivers get paid and right away they’re thinking about what they can save their money on.

 
Murphy highlighted that the low wages resulting from the dozens of different pay structures from different operators are at odds with the obscene profits these operators make.

 
“At the same time that these bus drivers have been taking cuts to their living standards, these bus companies have increased their profits substantially,” Murphy explained. “The Go-Ahead group, for example, have increased their profit margins by five per cent year on year. This year, they paid their shareholders £40m just from London buses. Should this be acceptable when our bus drivers are crawling in the dirt, barely surviving?”

 
Unite branch chair James Clitheroe, who has been driving buses for seven years, knows from personal experience how difficult it is to subsist on bus drivers’ wages.

 
“We’ve been through a recession for the last four or five years, and they say now that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, that we’re finally coming through it,” he said. “We’ve been told daily by the government that the country’s on its feet. But I don’t see this reflected in my wage. Living costs simply haven’t kept up.

 
No hostility

 
As surveys have proven before, the vast majority of London’s commuters whole-heartedly support bus workers’ struggle, as Murphy saw for himself this morning.

 
“I’ve been explaining to people at the bus stops that the buses won’t be coming today, and I’ve seen absolutely no hostility,” he said. “Sure, some may feel inconvenienced, but everyone I’ve talked to understands the point of what we’re doing today. They can understand the injustice of two people doing the same job getting paid different wages.”

 
Unite rep John Crichton, who has been driving buses for almost 30 years, agrees that the wider public understands and puts the blame for the dispute squarely on the shoulders of the recalcitrant bus operators.

 
“I’m glad that the public supports us – I think they understand. Ultimately, though, the buses don’t run for the public anymore, the way it used to be, when I first started. Now they run to make a few people mountains of money.”

 
Come to the table

 
Clitheroe adds that today’s strike is as much about securing their demands as it is about urging the operators to have a simple, collective discussion.

 
“If they would just come to the table and work with us, we wouldn’t be striking in the first place,” said Clitheroe. “I quite enjoy my job and I’d rather be at work. But the employers are refusing to even have a discussion.”

 
Sharon, a bus driver for 15 years, agrees that the job – though often stressful – is ultimately an enjoyable one.

 
“I’ve driven buses since 1999, and I absolutely love it,” she said. “I love driving. What the employers are doing to us is simply not fair – we do the same work, all we want is the same rate of pay.

 
“I love my job too much to ever give it up – but I will keep on striking until we all get the justice we deserve,” she added.