Last resort

More than 110 drivers from First Hampshire and Dorset Ltd in Weymouth and Bridport are to strike for five days next week in an ongoing dispute on pay.

This will be the sixth week of the dispute as Unite waits to hear if management will agree to meet with the conciliation service Acas.

“I have again offered to meet management at their convenience and proposed we try again with an Acas conciliator present. I await their decision,” said Bob Lanning, Unite regional officer.

The company’s latest pay offer produced no improvement, just the same 2.3 per cent over two years, which has been on the table for the last eight months.

“This is not acceptable given that our drivers in Weymouth and Bridport are the lowest paid in First Group across the whole of England,” said Bob.

Unite is calling for the company to dig a little deeper into its pockets and address the very unfair wage disparity before the tourist season gets into full swing.

“Our drivers wish to return to providing the service that Weymouth expects and deserves,” said Bob.

“These latest rounds of industrial action are a last resort against a stubborn company intent on not paying a reasonable rate for the job,” he added.

Unite has made a plea for local businesses to put pressure on First Weymouth and Bridport to limit the damage to the tourism industry, which injects more than £230m a year into the area’s local economy, as well as supporting 6,300 jobs.

First Group is a very profitable company that can afford to reward its Bristol drivers with a 13 per cent increase. But for Weymouth and Bridport employees the deal on the table is only 2.3 per cent over two years from August 2015.

“Last month First Group chalked a profit of £52m across its UK-wide bus division,” said Bob.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn offered his support to the drivers which Unite welcomed.

“We warmly welcome the moral – and financial – support that Jeremy Corbyn has given to the bus drivers of Weymouth and Bridport,” said Bob.

“He understands the struggle of working people against poverty pay and hard-line bosses. Now this dispute – now in its fifth week – has reached the national stage, this may concentrate the minds of the First Bus Hampshire and Dorset management on the need to reach a fair settlement, so our members can get back to providing a first-class service for the Dorset public,” he added.

 

The latest strikes start at 04:30 on 18 July 2016, ending at 04:29 on 19 July; at 04:30 on 20 July, ending at 04:29 on 21 July; and at 04:30 on 22 July, concluding at 04:29 on 25 July.

 

The following week, the strikes start at 04:30 on 25 July, ending at 04:29 on 26 July; at 04:30 on 27 July, ending at 04:29 on 28 July; and at 04:30 on 29 July, concluding at 04:29 hours on 1 August.