First Buses – The Other Strike

While all of the media attention was focused on the ongoing postal dispute, another group of workers were taking on their bosses in Greater Manchester this Monday. Over 800 Drivers for the First Bus Group based at depots in Bury, Bolton and Wigan joined thousands across the country who took strike action over an imposed pay freeze.

Workers have expressed their dismay at the fact that the zero per cent pay increase comes despite First Group PLC recording profits of over £326 million in the year up to March 2009, a 31 per cent increase on the previous year. Unite, the union representing the striking drivers, says that First are using the recession as an excuse to make employees pay for bigger profits and dividends for shareholders.

“First Group made millions of pounds in profit this year, despite the recession, yet are refusing to play fair by the employees who helped deliver these results,” Bobby Morton, industrial organiser at Unite said.

“The decision to impose a zero per cent increase is based on greed.”

Duncan McGraw from First told MULE that in the current economic climate it is impossible to offer a pay increase, saying that while profits were up last year, it’s not clear that this trend will continue.

The strikes meant that only a skeleton service was running on Monday for most of the First Bus routes, which cover much of northern Greater Manchester.

This latest strike follows seven 24-hour strikes earlier this year by workers involved in this dispute. Unite are promising that this will become a series of rolling strikes if the management do not take action to end the dispute.

The union say that they will happily bring the dispute to an end if the management offer a reasonable pay increase. They claim that the management has taken a hostile and aggressive stance towards the union but First claim that their door is always open to union representatives.

The two parties in the dispute are currently meeting with conciliation service, ACAS, in an attempt to put an end to the industrial action.

A consultative balloting of union members taken earlier this year saw a massive 95 per cent voting in favour of industrial action. Unite say that all of their members took part in the strike.