{"id":2676,"date":"2015-01-12T15:17:36","date_gmt":"2015-01-12T15:17:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=2676"},"modified":"2015-01-13T11:48:46","modified_gmt":"2015-01-13T11:48:46","slug":"one-pay-rate-plea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=2676","title":{"rendered":"One pay rate plea"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As London\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bus companies rake in hundreds of millions\u00e2\u20ac\u201dtheir directors comfortably resting atop a growing pile of cash\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe drivers themselves are losing out in a system where pay rates vary wildly depending on the company.<\/p>\n

 
\nAhead of a 24-hour strike tomorrow (January 13), Unite has found that London\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 18 different operators raked in combined profits of more than \u00c2\u0141170m, with directors\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pay totalling over \u00c2\u01417m.<\/p>\n

 
\nThis land of plenty stands in stark contrast to bus drivers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pay, in which absurd \u00c2\u01413-an-hour gaps exist among new starters, some of who drive the exact same routes. While passengers pay one fare, bus drivers face 80 different rates of pay<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 
\nMore than just a strong mandate for the upcoming strike among bus drivers, whose efforts keep the capital running smoothly, support for one collective pay deal among passengers is overwhelming.<\/p>\n

 
\nTwo-thirds of London\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s passengers agree that bus drivers should all be paid the same, according to a recent independent survey.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe survey, conducted by Mass1, found that 66 per cent of passengers who were asked the question, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bDo you think all bus drivers should be paid the same?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 responded yes with only 34 per cent responding no.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite regional officer Wayne King condemned mounting pay inequalities, both among bus drivers and between bus company heads and their workers.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLondon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bus operators have raked in millions in profits while driving down pay and refusing to tackle pay inequality on the capital\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s buses,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 King said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs bus company directors enjoy lottery style salaries, bus drivers doing the same job on the same route are being pitted against one another on different rates of pay.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nAn analysis of bus companies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 accounts found that each of the 18 bus operators reaped profits well into the millions, with top earning operator Go-Ahead Group raking in over \u00c2\u014177m.<\/p>\n

 
\nDirectors\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 remuneration reflected bus operators\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 healthy profits, with four directors earning over half a million pounds a year, and the city\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s top director earning more than \u00c2\u01413.5m.<\/p>\n

 
\nOn the other hand, bus drivers hardly see any of the fruits of their labour. They face meagre earnings\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbetween \u00c2\u014117,000 and \u00c2\u014125,000 a year on average\u00e2\u20ac\u201dfew prospects for earning much more even with decades of experience, as well as extremely stressful work conditions.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe single collective agreement Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 27,000 London bus drivers seek would create fairer and better pay and conditions, much like tube drivers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 single pay deal, which translates to much higher, level wages and a united workforce with higher morale.<\/p>\n

 
\nKing added that strike action was the very last resort, but that bus operators\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 refusal to even meet with Unite members has given them no other choice.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPassengers sitting side by side on the same route expect to pay the same fare, so why shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t drivers expect to be paid the same rate?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he argued. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe bus operators need to stop pleading poverty in defending pay inequality and collectively start negotiating about a fairer deal for London\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bus workers.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nStay tuned on UNITElive as we report from the picket line tomorrow (January 13).<\/p>\n

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As London\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bus companies rake in hundreds of millions\u00e2\u20ac\u201dtheir directors comfortably resting atop a growing pile of cash\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe drivers themselves are losing out in a system where pay rates vary wildly depending on the company.   Ahead of a 24-hour strike tomorrow (January 13), Unite has found that London\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 18 different operators raked in combined […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"wps_subtitle":"Bus bosses rake it while drivers struggle with different pay rates ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2676"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2676"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2682,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2676\/revisions\/2682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}