Eleven London Bus garages join strike action in the capital
3 October 2008
Unite members at a further eleven bus garages in London are set
to join the 3,500 bus workers who have been taking strike action on
Friday 10 and Wednesday 22 October.
The 2,500 Unite members who work for Metroline voted 88.5 per
cent in favour of strike action in a recent ballot by the
union.
Unite submitted a London wide claim to all bus operators in
March of this year to challenge the current system whereby drivers
(and other grades) performing identical jobs within the TfL
regulated industry, receive hugely varying pay and conditions.
Bus workers at First Capital East, First Centre West and
Metrobus have already been out on strike during September.
Unite members at Transdev Sovereign, which covers North and
North West London, have just voted in a consultative ballot by 98
per cent in favour of strike action with a full postal ballot now
set to proceed.
Unite is calling for a single rate of pay for drivers of £30,000
a year, based on a 38 hour week. Currently the eighteen London bus
companies all operate with different pay structures, with pay
inequalities of up to £6,000 a year.
Peter Kavanagh, Unite Senior Regional Organiser, says; “There is
a startling disparity between bus drivers pay in the capital, with
rosters in some companies seeing many drivers’ complete nearly 60
hours per week.
“Not only is this potentially unsafe, it is unfair to have bus
workers across London doing the same job for less money or having
to put in much longer hours.
“Our members will continue to strike and we will continue to
ballot further bus companies until Boris Johnson listens up and
engages in serious discussions for equal pay for all London bus
workers.”
Arriva South and North, and East London and East Thames busses
are being balloted this week in time for strike action planned on
Wednesday 22nd October.
-Ends-
For further information contact:
John Griffiths (for Metrobus queries) on 07739 921594
George Dodo-Williams (for First Centrewest and First Capital East
queries) on 07980 721431
Jim Buckley (for Metroline) 07980 721426
Or Jody Whitehill, Unite Press Officer on 020 7420 8938 or 07768
693956
Notes to editors: to see previous press releases on the Unite
London bus campaign please visit
www.unitetheunion.org
Notes to Editors:
Metrobus
Crawley:
Gatwick routes; 10, 20, 100 & 200
1, 2, 4 ,5, 6, 604, 696, 430, 435, 420, 460, 391, 273, 291, 82,
660, 271, 23, 84, 280, 270, 684, 24, 281, 648, 610, 692, 86, 636,
89, 638, 409, 411, 541, 542, 694, 391, 303, 595, 594, 911, 917 and
ASDA & Tesco routes.
Croydon:
64, 119, 127, 130, 202, 293, 405, T33 and X26.
Orpington:
R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, R9, R11, N119, 138, 146, 161, 181,
246, 261, 284, 320, 336, 352, 353, 354, 464 and 654.
First Capital East Buses are based at - Lea Interchange,
Dagenham and Northumberland Park
East London
58, 67, 91, 150, 165, 179, 191, 193, 212, 215, 231, 236, 252, 259,
299, 308, 309, 323, 339, 341, 357, 365, 385, 389, 399, 476, 488,
498, D6, D7, D8, RV1, W6, W10, W11, W12
First Centrewest Buses are based at - Alperton, Greenford,
Hayes, Uxbridge, Westbourne Park, and Willesden
West London
9(heritage service only), 10, 18, 23, 28, 31, 79, 83, 92, 95, 105,
187, 207, 223, 224, 226, 228, 245, 282, 295, 328, 331, 414, 427,
487, 607, A10, E1, E3, E5, E7, E9, E10, PR2, U1, U2, U3, U4, U5,
U10
Metroline routes:
4, 6, 7, 16, 17, 32, 43, 46, 52, 70, 82, 84, 90, 98, 107, 113, 117,
134, 139, 140,182 , 186, 189, 190, 204, 205, 206, 209 210 214, 217,
232, 234, 237, 240, 242, 251, 260, 263,266, 271,274,
97,302,316,318, 326, 332, 346, 383, 384, 390, 460, 603, 605, 606,
609, 611, 626, 632, 635, 640, 643, 719, 721, C2, C11, E2, E6, E8,
H12, W5, W7, W8, W9, N5, N16, N20, N52, N98
