Bus drivers from CT Plus and the East London Bus Group confirm
further strike action
11th December 2009
Thousands of Unite members working for London bus operators, CT
Plus and the East London Bus Group (ELBG) will be taking part in a
24 hour strike from 3am on Wednesday (16th December) in their bid
to win a better pay deal from their employers.
Unite has been in discussions with the ELBG since April 2009
and, after a couple of meetings, the company decided that it would
impose a pay freeze.
Unite and the ELBG have agreed to meet on tomorrow (Saturday,
12th December) in a further attempt to resolve this long running
dispute. However, despite the union’s best efforts to persuade CT
Plus to enter meaningful negotiations, to improve the offer already
rejected on two occasions by the Unite membership, it continues to
refuse to contemplate altering its position.
CT Plus, part of the HCT Group, is a growing social enterprise,
but Unite says it is using low wages for workers to fund its
expansion. Unite is warning CT Plus, which is winning new contracts
and expanding in London and throughout the UK, that it cannot
expect its success to be built on the back of a low wage
culture.
Unite members at both companies voted to reject the offers and
to take strike action. The 24 hour strike by drivers at East London
and drivers and other grades at CT Plus will hit public transport
and public services, including school buses and community transport
services covering East London and the City.
Len McCluskey, Unite assistant general secretary, who addressed
a conference of all London bus reps last week and pledged the
support of the union to busworkers in their struggles for fair pay,
said:
“I am pleased that the ELBG have has agreed to talks, and would
urge management to get serious with a serious offer. I hope that CT
Plus too will realise the determination of Unite to reach a
negotiated settlement, and that this requires a clear message from
them CT PLus that they are it is prepared to make progress.”
Unite senior regional industrial organiser, Peter Kavanagh,
said: “Our members are extremely loyal and hardworking and will not
tolerate this unacceptable behaviour towards them.
“Our members’ wages at CT Plus put them close to the bottom of
the pay league and leave them thousands of pounds worse off than
their colleagues in other companies operating in London. They also
get no overtime pay and no compensation for working rest days or
unsocial hours.
“CT Plus may pride itself on being a social enterprise and a
creator of jobs but the cold reality is its expansion is being paid
for out of the pockets of low paid bus workers.
“These companies cannot expect to get fat on basement level
wages for its their workforces, in one of the most expensive cities
in the world, and get away with it. All our members want is to be
treated fairly and we urge management of both companies to get back
to the negotiating table with a fair and reasonable offer to end
these disputes.”
The strike at the ELBG will affect 58 routes and about 750 buses
across East London and the City including night buses. The ELBG
employs 2,600 workers, of which 2,400 are Unite members.
ELBG routes affected during the industrial action will be:
D3, 5, 8, 15 (including Heritage Route 15), 25, 26, 30, 48, 55, 56,
62, 69, 86, 97, 101, 103, 104, 106, 115, 145, 147, 158, 169, 175,
205, 230, 238, 241, 247, 257, 262, 276, 277, 287, 294, 296, 300,
325, 330, 366, 369, 376, 387, 396, 473, 496, 608, 647, 674, 678,
687, N8, N15, N26, N55, N86 and N550.
The garages affected are at Barking, Bow, Leyton, Romford, Upton
Park and West Ham.
The 24-hour stoppage will affect the following CT Plus
services:
- The 153, 388, 394 and W13 TFL routes;
- The Richard Cloudesley Islington School Buses;
- Capital Call Car Service Call Centre;
- Scootability - Scooter Hire Service in Camden;
- The Olympic Park Transport (CT Plus drivers transport
construction workers across the Olympic site);
- All administration posts within CT Plus;
- The CT Plus Engineering Department;
- The HCT Group Transport Department (minibuses);
- The Learning Centre at CT Plus.
ENDS
Email to a friend
