‘End of their tether’

London bus workers at the bus operator Tower Transit will be staging a second 24-hour stoppage today (Tuesday September 6), over the imposition of roster changes and a failure by a hard line management to commit to constructive industrial relations.

Today’s strike follows talks on Monday (September 5) at the conciliation service Acas where agreement could not be reached. It will be the second stoppage in a dispute involving over 1,000 drivers, engineers and controllers at three depots across the capital.

A previous 24-hour strike on Friday, August 26, led to services operating out of the Atlas Road bus depot in Park Royal, the Westbourne Park bus garage and the Lea interchange bus depot being dramatically reduced and 28 bus routes affected.

All three depots are once again involved in today’s stoppage which follows mounting frustration among workers, who are angry over a lack of consultation over roster changes which are leaving them out of pocket, as well as the non-payment of correct rest day working pay rates.

Today’s strike is expected to affect services from the early hours of today as drivers scheduled to start their shifts stay away from work.

“We entered yesterday’s talks in a positive and constructive manner, yet Tower Transit refused to move on basic things such as a single collective bargaining forum for Unite members and trade union representation for individual members,”  said  Unite regional officer Simon McCartney.

“While some progress was made the commitments Unite needs to ensure this dispute does not repeat itself have not been provided.

“Tower Transit could resolve this dispute with the stroke of a pen and by committing to genuine change in managerial practice rather than confrontational brinkmanship.

“This brinkmanship has left Tower Transit bus workers at the end of their tether and facing the imposition of changes to their rosters which leave them out of pocket and forced to rearrange their family life,” he added. “To add insult to injury bus workers have also found themselves short changed when doing overtime on a rest day.

“Our members take great pride in keeping London on the move and strike action is very much the last resort for them,” McCartney went on to say. “We would urge Tower Transit management to start taking a constructive approach and engage in meaningful talks to avoid further disruption.”

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