Bus strike postponed

Unite has postponed two 24-hour London wide bus strikes, scheduled for this coming Friday and Monday, February 13 and 16 – in a bid to get London’s 18 bus operators around the table in talks with the conciliation service Acas.

The postponement is an act of goodwill to enable talks over a collective pay and conditions body, which would cover all of the capital’s bus workers.

The move comes as Unite seeks legal assurances from Transport for London (TfL) over concerns, which if true, could mean the transport body has been interfering in the dispute in an unlawful manner.

Unite is also requesting that TfL’s board members sign a neutrality statement vowing not to block talks aimed at resolving the dispute between the union and London’s 18 bus operators.

Pay gaps

In contrast to tube drivers, there are now hundreds of different pay rates covering London’s bus drivers, doing the same job, even driving the same route but for different rates of pay.

 

Unite claims a refusal by the operators to address pay inequality has led to pay gaps of over ÂŁ3 an hour for new starters opening up, with pay varying from ÂŁ9.30 to ÂŁ12.34 an hour depending on the company.

So far over 20,000 bus workers working for 18 bus operators have taken part in two days of solidly supported strike action, causing widespread disruption.

Commenting, Unite regional officer Wayne King said the bus operators had no excuses not to seize this window of opportunity and join Unite collectively at the Acas talks.

“We’ve postponed the two days of strike action in an act of goodwill and we are not asking them to break competition law by meeting us collectively,” he said.

“The ball is firmly in the court of London’s bus companies. They have a duty to London’s 6.8m bus passengers to join us in collective talks to end the pay inequality and pay chaos on London’s buses.

“All we are asking for is a collective forum to discuss how we can end pay disparities over a sensible timeframe. A failure to do so will mean that strike action and the disruption caused by the last two strongly supported strikes will be back on the cards,” King added.

Unite urged TfL to start playing a constructive role and sign a public statement of neutrality to confirm that operators can negotiate freely with Unite.