The Socialist 11 July 2018

Act now to get the Tories out

Tories in crisis - Act now to get them out!

600 more retail jobs on the line: workers must not pay for the bosses' high street crunch!

Britain bakes as water pipelines leak

Minister's benefits lie: sack the Tories - and scrap universal credit

Them & Us

Hit the streets against Trump and capitalism

US: "We've had to build a huge culture of resistance"

NSSN conference 2018: Mood for fighting action and coordination

Big victory for Wigan NHS strike against privatisation

Campaign in full flow to squeeze out every last Yes vote in pay ballot

Hackney traffic wardens strike for better pay and protection at work

Summer of discontent on the cards in Huddersfield bin workers' dispute

Tyneside shopfitting plant lays off 61 workers

Unite conference sees union go in a fighting, socialist direction

Pressure building on councillors to stop fire service cuts

Tram workers strike against 'derisory' pay offer

Stop the FLA - No to racism

Women's Lives Matter launched in Leeds to fight domestic violence service cuts

Service users and families protest learning disability service cuts

NHS Leeds: Campaigners halt outsourcing... for now

Yes to NHS - No to PFI!

Tories fractured... election possibility... give us the resources!

Issue 1000 drive shows sales potential

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Sheffield trams not moving, 9.7.18, photo by A Tice (Click to enlarge)

Sheffield tram workers strike against 'derisory' pay offer

Alistair Tice

"Liberating" is how one Unite union member described his first day on strike against Supertram's "derisory" pay offer.

Supertram is Sheffield's light rail tram system operated by Stagecoach who also run buses in the city.

Around 180 drivers and conductors, all members of Unite, are taking strike action today (9 July) and on 12 July, the first strikes in the 24 years since Supertram first operated.

"They never thought we'd actually go on strike" said one picket. But it's not just about pay, it's about how management treats its staff. One striker said: "There's more managers than trams and there's 32 of them."

Conductors are on around £18,000 a year and drivers around £23,000, still less than the national average wage and much less than comparable train and tube drivers.

Unite submitted a 50p an hour one year pay claim. Supertram offered 26p in Year 1, 26p in Year 2, and a Consumer Price Index rise in Year 3 of a three year deal. This was unanimously rejected and 91% of union members voted to strike.

Sheffield tram strikers, 9.7.18, photo by A Tice (Click to enlarge)

The strike has been solid, hardly any staff have gone in, with few trams running. Stagecoach bus drivers, also Unite members, refused to drive the replacement bus services so the bosses have had to bring in managers and buses from outside South Yorkshire.

Their scab buses say "Magic bus" on the livery but they haven't conjured up many passengers!

After overwhelmingly rejecting a second "smoke and mirrors" pay offer, Unite named a further three days of strike action to follow on 20-22 July which is the weekend of Sheffield's 'Tramlines' music festival.

As one striker said: "Tramlines without trams!" With 40,000 extra visitors to the city expected, Supertram stands to lose hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Unite expects that the strength of the strikes and threat of lost revenue will force the company to improve its offer.

This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 9 July 2018 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.

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