Bus workers at Stagecoach in South Yorkshire walked out on Monday of this week—their eighth strike day. The strike followed a decision last week to reject a management offer in their pay dispute.
The workers, members of the Unite union, voted 206 to 89 against the offer. They want to fight for a top pay rate of £9 an hour plus back pay. Stagecoach had offered them £9.05 an hour but no back pay.
The picket lines were significantly larger on Monday with some 70 pickets at the Barnsley depot and 20 at Rawmarsh. The mood was positive and determined. The workers will hold a mass meeting on Sunday this week to decide their next step. There is a strong mood for more strikes.
But the drivers need financial support. Email messages of support to Barnsley Unite branch secretary Tony Rushforth at a‑rushforth@sky.com Cheques should be made payable to TGWU 9/9 Barnsley and sent to A Rushforth, 45 Tune Street, Wombwell, Barnsley S73 8PX
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk
18 Jan 2012
Sovereign pay offer rejected
Drivers at London Sovereign have rejected a below inflation pay offer. Drivers at the Harrow and Edgware garages in north west London voted 105 to 21 against the offer on Friday of last week. The rejection is a step forward for workers in their long running pay dispute. Sovereign bus drivers are the worst paid in London.
Last year’s pay negotiations ended messily. Management tried to impose a rejected 2 percent deal by getting drivers to sign up as individuals. The Unite union cancelled a ballot as a result. But the latest result shows that workers at the two garages want to step up the fight. They rejected an attempt to extend the current 2 percent deal from July to December and rejected a 3.1 percent pay increase over the 12 months starting from December.
Robert Laird, Unite rep at Edgware, told Socialist Worker, “To have an extended deal would have been pretty awful. It would have diluted the 2 percent even further.” The “anniversary date” for the next pay settlement now reverts to July. Drivers will be meeting shortly to discuss the next steps in their campaign.
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk
Last year’s pay negotiations ended messily. Management tried to impose a rejected 2 percent deal by getting drivers to sign up as individuals. The Unite union cancelled a ballot as a result. But the latest result shows that workers at the two garages want to step up the fight. They rejected an attempt to extend the current 2 percent deal from July to December and rejected a 3.1 percent pay increase over the 12 months starting from December.
Robert Laird, Unite rep at Edgware, told Socialist Worker, “To have an extended deal would have been pretty awful. It would have diluted the 2 percent even further.” The “anniversary date” for the next pay settlement now reverts to July. Drivers will be meeting shortly to discuss the next steps in their campaign.
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk
16 Jan 2012
South Yorkshire drivers reject deal
Bus drivers in the Unite union at Barnsley and Rawmarsh have voted to reject the latest offer from their employer Stagecoach. The drivers have held seven strike days in their campaign for decent pay. They voted 206 to 89 against the latest offer and will strike again today.
Local union branches in South Yorkshire are mobilising to support the bus drivers. A GMB branch donated £200 and an NUJ chapel gave £50 to the strikers’ hardship fund.
Messages of support should be emailed to Barnsley Unite branch secretary Tony Rushforth at a-rushforth@sky.com Cheques should be made payable to Unite, 8-9/9 Barnsley and sent to A Rushforth, 45 Tune Street, Wombwell, Barnsley S73 8PX
Local union branches in South Yorkshire are mobilising to support the bus drivers. A GMB branch donated £200 and an NUJ chapel gave £50 to the strikers’ hardship fund.
Messages of support should be emailed to Barnsley Unite branch secretary Tony Rushforth at a-rushforth@sky.com Cheques should be made payable to Unite, 8-9/9 Barnsley and sent to A Rushforth, 45 Tune Street, Wombwell, Barnsley S73 8PX
11 Jan 2012
Sri Lanka: wild cat strike over pay
Workers attached to the state-owned Nittambuwa and Negombo bus depots pulled-off a wild cat strike this afternoon in protest over the non-payment of their salaries. A spokesperson for the workers said that employees at the Nittambuwa Depot were yet to receive their salaries for November and December while those at Negombo hadn't been paid for December.
Yorkshire strike: scabbing operation crumbles
Drivers at Stagecoach in Barnsley and Rawmarsh have carried over their strikes into the new year. A quarter of the Barnsley workforce turned out at 5am on Wednesday last week to picket the bus garage. An oil lorry refused to cross their picket line.
Stagecoach is struggling to keep up its scabbing operation against the strikers. The company has been relying on managers from other areas coming to drive buses—but fewer have been forthcoming. “They’ve even got the third highest Stagecoach manager nationally driving a bus today,” said one of the pickets.
Stagecoach is struggling to keep up its scabbing operation against the strikers. The company has been relying on managers from other areas coming to drive buses—but fewer have been forthcoming. “They’ve even got the third highest Stagecoach manager nationally driving a bus today,” said one of the pickets.
Trades council rally
Barnsley trades council organised a lunchtime rally in support of the strikers. Members of the Unison, NUT, NASUWT and UCU unions, and students from Barnsley College, came to show solidarity.
One speaker reported that a friend of his was a bus driver on the Isle of Skye. Stagecoach had asked them to take holidays to come to Barnsley and break the strike. Strikers picked up an envelope dropped by a strikebreaker which showed how much they are being paid—£105 expenses plus £50 bonus each strike day. That means management are paying out £15,500 each strike day as well as reducing fares dramatically to £1. Even so, very few people are using Stagecoach buses.
One speaker reported that a friend of his was a bus driver on the Isle of Skye. Stagecoach had asked them to take holidays to come to Barnsley and break the strike. Strikers picked up an envelope dropped by a strikebreaker which showed how much they are being paid—£105 expenses plus £50 bonus each strike day. That means management are paying out £15,500 each strike day as well as reducing fares dramatically to £1. Even so, very few people are using Stagecoach buses.
Backpaid
All the drivers are asking for is an extra 26p an hour to bring them up to £9 an hour for a 38 hour week. They also want the increase to be backpaid to the start of April 2011. They have no extra payments for unsocial hours. Some drivers have to start at 4.30am. The last bus service finishes at 3am but there is no reward for working those hours.
Some 30 non-union drivers have joined Unite since the strike started. Strikers are determined to face down Stagecoach. They have held seven strike days so far and plan another on Monday of next week.
Management finally blinked and held talks with the union on Friday of last week. They offered £9.05 an hour starting immediately—but no back pay. Bosses claimed the funds they would have used for back pay had been spent on paying strikebreakers instead!
Stagecoach also wants to change the dates of pay negotiation, effectively making their offer an 18-month deal. Drivers will meet on Thursday of this week to vote on the offer. The union is recommending that they reject and go ahead with the planned 16 January strike day.
Some 30 non-union drivers have joined Unite since the strike started. Strikers are determined to face down Stagecoach. They have held seven strike days so far and plan another on Monday of next week.
Management finally blinked and held talks with the union on Friday of last week. They offered £9.05 an hour starting immediately—but no back pay. Bosses claimed the funds they would have used for back pay had been spent on paying strikebreakers instead!
Stagecoach also wants to change the dates of pay negotiation, effectively making their offer an 18-month deal. Drivers will meet on Thursday of this week to vote on the offer. The union is recommending that they reject and go ahead with the planned 16 January strike day.
We need solidarity
Unite branch secretary Tony Rushforth said, “Our members have stuck together and shown Stagecoach we will not be intimidated. “But we are very short of money. We’ve had donations from GMB, Unison and Napo members in Sheffield. But we need extra—our branch funds have all been spent.”
It is clear that Stagecoach is trying to break the Barnsley strike as a lesson to its drivers across the country. That is why it is so important that this strike receives financial and political support from across the trade union movement.
Messages of support should be emailed to Barnsley Unite branch secretary Tony Rushforth at a-rushforth@sky.com Cheques should be made payable to Unite, 8-9/9 Barnsley and sent to A Rushforth, 45 Tune Street, Wombwell, Barnsley S73 8PX
It is clear that Stagecoach is trying to break the Barnsley strike as a lesson to its drivers across the country. That is why it is so important that this strike receives financial and political support from across the trade union movement.
Messages of support should be emailed to Barnsley Unite branch secretary Tony Rushforth at a-rushforth@sky.com Cheques should be made payable to Unite, 8-9/9 Barnsley and sent to A Rushforth, 45 Tune Street, Wombwell, Barnsley S73 8PX
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.
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.
4 Jan 2012
Seventh strike day for South Yorkshire drivers
Drivers working at Stagecoach in South Yorkshire are out again today. It is the seventh strike day in their dispute over pay. The drivers are members of the Unite union at Stagecoach’s Barnsley and Rawmarsh depots. They are trying to win a top rate of £9 an hour plus back pay. Another strike is scheduled for Monday 16 January. Stagecoach is attempting to break the strike by drafting in over 100 scabs to drive buses, including managers and supervisors.
3 Jan 2012
Senegalese drivers strike - about everything
Dakar, Senegal
Thousands of residents in Senegal's capital city found themselves stranded yesterday as bus and taxi drivers began a two-day strike, leaving some to turn to horse-drawn carts to get around. "The call to strike is being followed by 98 percent (of workers) around the country," said Aliou Soum of the National Union of Road Transport Workers which called the strike.
He added drivers were protesting "the high price of fuel, the cost of insurance, police harassment and a lack of social protection" from their employers, among others.
The strike was launched on the eve of an ministerial meeting on transport. "If tomorrow's (Tuesday) meeting satisfies our demands, we will lift the strike, otherwise we will return to protesting, but for an unlimited strike," said Soum.
He added drivers were protesting "the high price of fuel, the cost of insurance, police harassment and a lack of social protection" from their employers, among others.
The strike was launched on the eve of an ministerial meeting on transport. "If tomorrow's (Tuesday) meeting satisfies our demands, we will lift the strike, otherwise we will return to protesting, but for an unlimited strike," said Soum.
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