Residents throughout Greater Manchester have been warned to brace
themselves for new year bus strikes as workers employed by First
Manchester prepare to ballot over pay and conditions.
Despite numerous meetings, management have refused to make a pay
offer which meets the workers’ aspirations.
The drivers are also balloting about ongoing issues regarding
working patterns and shift rotas. Emergency procedures were
introduced at the beginning of the pandemic, which members
accepted, but they have become increasingly concerned that
previous arrangements have not been reintroduced as passenger
numbers have increased.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members at
First Manchester are not going to accept low pay and poor
conditions any longer.
“Unite is a union which prioritises the jobs, pay and conditions
of our members and it will be ensuring that the bus drivers at
First Group get the union’s full support throughout this
dispute.”
The strike ballot opens on Thursday 25 November and
closes on Wednesday 23 December. If members vote for
industrial action then strikes could begin in early January.
Over 350 bus drivers are part of the industrial action. The
company operates from a depot in Oldham but strikes would affect
services throughout Greater Manchester and beyond.
The workers have made it clear that they will no longer accept
low rates of pay, with the hourly rate of pay for a highly
skilled bus driver being just £12.40 an hour.
Unite regional officer Dave Roberts said: “First Manchester
has failed to make a reasonable pay offer or deal with drivers'
concerns over working patterns. This has left our members
with no option but to ballot for industrial action.
“If First Manchester is serious about resolving this dispute then
it needs to return to the negotiating table, make a pay offer in
line with drivers’ expectations and resolve the problems over
shifts and working patterns.”
First Group is the second largest bus operator in the UK and is
highly profitable. Its latest accounts reveal
that it had a statutory operating profit of £224.3 million.
