London Sovereign ballot on pay

Bus drivers at London Sovereign in north west London are set to vote on a new offer in their long-running pay dispute on Friday of this week.
The company is offering a 2 percent pay rise from July to December this year followed by a 3.1 percent rise over the next 12 months. This is below the rate of inflation, making it a pay cut in real terms. It also comes with strings attached. Drivers should vote to reject it.
Last year’s pay talks at London Sovereign were never properly resolved. Drivers were being balloted on an offer of 2 percent over one year from last July to this July. But the Unite union cancelled the ballot after numbers of workers signed up to the offer as individuals. Many workers say that company managers pressurised them into signing the deal.
In 2009 Sovereign drivers struck and won a number of concessions over working hours. But management have been clawing back those gains ever since. Last year they sacked Abdul Omer Mohsin, the Unite union convenor. He had played a leading role in the 2009 strikes.

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