London bus drivers step up strike against basement
level wages
26 November 2009
Bus drivers in East London will take strike action tomorrow
(Friday 27th ) in their quest to win fair wages and a better pay
deal from their employers, London transport company CT
Plus.
The 24 hour strike by drivers, engineers and administration
staff will begin at 4.00am and will hit public transport and
public services, including school buses and community transport
services in Hackney and Islington.
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. The company's proposed pay deal of 2.25 percent was the
final straw for the 150 workers because it would still leave CT
Plus bus workers lagging far behind the wages paid by competitor
companies.
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.
Peter Kavanagh, Unite's senior regional industrial organiser,
said the workers were determined to win a better deal: "At first
glance, 2.25 percent in today's economy may not seem a bad deal but
it looks very different to our members who are on low wages to
begin with and are fed up struggling to get by.
"Their wages put them at the bottom of the pay league and leave
them thousands of pounds worse off than their colleagues in other
companies. 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 their expansion if being
paid for out of the pockets of low paid bus workers.
This company cannot expect to get fat on basement level wages for
its workforce, in one of the most expensive cities in the world,
and get away with it.
"These workers and their union are very determined. I
advise CT Plus to sit down and talk with us very soon about an
acceptable solution or it will find itself with a reputation among
clients for bad industrial relations and more strikes on its
hands."
The strike follows a three day strike at East London Bus group.
2500 staff at First Capital East and First Centre West have voted
in favour of industrial action and staff at Abellio London
(formerly Travel London owned by National Express) are preparing to
ballot for industrial action.
The 24-hour stoppage will affect the following
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 @ CT Plus
ENDS
For further information please contact Ciaran Naidoo on 07768
931 315 or Pete Kavanagh on 07980 721 422
Email to a friend
Want to share this story? These sites allow you to tag and share links across the internet enabling you to share these links with friends and people with similar interests. You can also access your links from any computer you happen to be using.
