London bus strikers February 2021, photo London SP

London bus strikers February 2021, photo London SP   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Helen Pattison, London Socialist Party

Bus workers in Unite, striking at private company RATP in London continued on 5 March. On the picket lines they listed all the impacts of privatisation, from the lack of air conditioning and heating in the drivers’ cabs, to the company’s plans to extend their shifts, pay and holiday disparity among drivers.

One driver put it bluntly, saying that ultimately private companies exist to make profit, and agreed with Socialist Party members that the buses needed to be renationalised. There was also enthusiasm once again for candidates against London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who talks no end about being the son of a bus driver, but while in office has failed to act to protect drivers or other transport workers from the pandemic or the drive for profit.