Unite member
Unite members employed in the bus sector have been taking action and winning. This is now set to escalate. Over the last few months, 25% of all Unite bus members have been in dispute with the employers. That’s nearly 20,000 workers.
The bus combine, which brings together lay reps from the industry, has been meeting to mobilise and plan for the coming months. Pay is the common issue linking the strike ballots, but the combine has also taken up the issue of temperatures in buses, including making clear the full support of the union for members who refuse to drive buses where it is unsafe due to the heat. In Durham, members at Go North East are fighting the closure of Chester-Le-Street depot (see below).
The combine is in the best position to coordinate campaigns across regions and has agreed that a key campaign must be to win a national rate for the job. The wins that have taken place, together with upcoming action, are vital stepping stones in reaching that target.
Wins so far include a 21.5% pay increase at First Bus Glasgow, 15.8% at Stagecoach Worthing, 13.3% at Leicester Citybus and significant increases at Arriva Yorkshire and Stagecoach Merseyside. Currently, Unite members at Arriva North West are on continuous strike, which began on 20 July.
* Note: Since publication of the Socialist, the Arriva North West strike has been suspended while workers vote on whether to accept a 11.1% pay offer.
Unite has produced a report which proves that it is not wage increases that fuel inflation, instead it is profiteering. Arriva is a prime example. Over a period of ten years, it has siphoned off more than half a billion pounds to its shareholders at parent company Deutsche Bahn.
Unite members are responding in the best possible way. Members at Arriva London North are currently being balloted after the company failed to make an offer, as are Arriva members in Herts/Beds and Kent/Essex.
*Note: Since publication of the Socialist, workers at Arriva Herts/Beds and Kent/Essex have voted to take strike action.
Coordinating action
Over 1,600 bus drivers will take action coinciding with rail strikes on 19 August as Unite members at RATP/London United have issued notice for strike action. This company recorded a profit of £174 million for 2021.
Also taking action on the same day will be Unite members at Transport for London employed on London Underground, Croydon Trams, Dial-a-ride, river services, Victoria coach station and the network management control centre. This shows that coordinated action is possible, despite anti-trade union laws.
Unite members at Abellio in West London are preparing for action. And following the employer’s failures to make acceptable offers, Metroline members in London also look to be taking the road of strike action.
Unite bus workers, through the combine structures, have the potential to drive up pay and conditions, win a safe workplace and unite to win the rate for the job.
Go North East strike threat wins concessions
Following the decision by bus company Go North East to close the Chester-le-Street bus depot, with most if not all posts being made redundant, workers voted for indefinite strike action.
But before the strike action even began, the bosses were forced back to the negotiating table with a revised offer which workers have voted to accept.
In the words of a Unite regional coordinating officer: “The staff at the Chester-le-Street depot have accepted a beneficial severance package for those workers who want to leave their employment and a compensatory scheme for those moving to other workplaces.”
This shows that sometimes even the threat of strike action is enough to send bosses running, especially when backed up by a fighting union like Unite that fully supported its members’ decision to strike.
Sam Morden, South Tyne and Wear Socialist Party
