Moe Muhsin Manir, Unite Walworth garage rep, bus driver on the C10 London bus route and Socialist Party member, has been sacked by Abellio. This is another attack on the union after Battersea rep Judith Katera was dismissed before Christmas. After the union and members fought back, Judith was reinstated in February. Moe himself was threatened with dismissal over a year ago on a trumped-up charge but the company was forced back.

We have to do the same to get Moe back in Walworth now. It's the same old story - management attacks union reps to then cut bus workers' pay and terms and conditions. Some drivers are asking, are they going for Moe because Abellio want to impose remote sign-on? Drivers in Metroline in North London are currently balloting for strike action over this. Last summer in Manchester, a Unite rep was targeted and now drivers are on indefinite strike because Go Ahead/Go North West wants to use fire and rehire to cut wages by £2,500.

Moe is a committed union rep and has a proud record of fighting for bus drivers in Abellio and across London. He was on the picket lines in the battle for the Olympic bonus in 2012 and for sector-wide negotiations in 2015.

He has also supported every strike taken by bus drivers, including the action currently being taken by workers at RATP. Unite asked him to come to Walworth from Battersea to help build the strength of the union in the garage. As a result, union membership grew from 25% to 75%.

Targeted

Over the last 14 months in particular, it has been clear that Moe has been targeted by management:

The first attempt to sack him early last year was in the middle of a London-wide Unite consultation ballot on safety
They then even threatened Moe about his union election leaflet! The election was stopped by Unite after it was proved that a vote of no-confidence petition against Moe was fraudulent
Last July, on the very day that Unite started an investigation into this petition, a new complaint went in against Moe!
Ten days later, a further complaint was put in against Moe and the same day a similar one went in against Judith that led to her sacking

At that time, during some of the most difficult days of the Covid pandemic, when over 30 London bus drivers tragically died, Moe was leading the campaign to make buses safe by fighting for the front doors to be closed.

Moe fights for every improvement for drivers but believes that there should be one contract on the best pay and terms in London, that stops the bosses playing off bus workers against each other. He demands that the London Labour mayor refuses to pass on Tory Transport for London budget cuts and that the 18 private bus companies be taken back into public ownership.

Moe is appealing against his sacking but he needs to be backed up, including by industrial action, to tell management: 'Hands off Moe and our union!'.

Campaign to reinstate sacked union activists

Come to: Trade Unionists Under Attack, Solidarity Meeting! 7pm - Wednesday 24 March - online event
(Hosted by Southampton and South West Hampshire Trades Union Council and Southern and South East Shop Stewards Network)
Speakers include -
Gary Carney, RMT activist and sacked London Underground worker
Moe Muhsin Manir, Unite activist and sacked London Bus driver
Declan Clune, RMT activist and sacked Southampton Bus Worker
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 764 535 2620
Passcode: STUC2020

Stop press:

Declan Clune was informed by Bluestar busses, part of Go Ahead South Coast, that his dismissal has been upheld following his appeal last week. Reports of ongoing bullying and harassment of trade union reps at Bluestar show that this is an attack on effective trade unionism and nothing else.

The RMT Southampton District Bus and Coach branch is determined to fight this outrageous attack on their rep and branch secretary.

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