The more than 50 Unite members, employed by the Yorkshire Traction Company, part of the Stagecoach group, and based at the Stonegravels depot will take 13 days of strike action between October 18 and December 14, as well as from December 20 to January 8.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Low pay is the scourge of the bus industry right across this country. Stagecoach made profits touching £60m last year and has £875m in the bank. Yet it cannot make a decent inflation-busting offer to its staff.
“Unite will be relentless in its campaign to ensure that our members at Stagecoach receive a fair pay increase. Stagecoach management leave us with no alternative.”
Unite regional officer Scott Lennon said: “Our members have made it clear that they will no longer accept low pay. The planned strike action will undoubtedly cause widespread disruption to passengers across Chesterfield but the drivers believe they have no option but to take strike action to secure a decent wage.
“If the local management at Stagecoach wants to avoid these strikes then they should stop posturing, make a realistic pay offer and work with us to repair industrial relations.”
A pay dispute at Kinchbus could lead to serious disruption to bus services in Loughborough and the East Midlands, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Tuesday 12 October).
Around 50 Kinchbus drivers, who are amongst the lowest paid in the country, are being balloted for strike action by their union, Unite, over an unsatisfactory pay offer.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Kinchbus pays some of the lowest rates in the country for bus drivers. Their current pay offer will not even take drivers past £11 an hour – a disgracefully low amount for such a challenging job.
Unite Scotland confirmed today (8 October) that around 600 Stagecoach East workers across Fife, Perth and Strathtay have rejected the latest pay offer from the company.
In Fife, around 440 Stagecoach East workers rejected the latest pay offer from the company of 2.4% backdated to May 2021 by 90%. Across Perth and Strathtay, around 160 workers rejected the same offer by 91%.
Unite has acknowledged that while the latest offer represented a ‘step forward’ it maintains that there is ‘some distance to go’ to meeting the pay demands of its members. Unite has demanded Stagecoach meet its ‘fair’ pay claim of the Retail Price Index inflation figure (3.8% - July) plus 1%. The workers involved in the dispute are drivers, engineering staff, administrative workers, and cleaners.
Planned strike action scheduled for next week by bus drivers employed by Ribble Motor Services Ltd (part of the multimillion pound Stagecoach group) based at the Preston and Chorley bus depots has been suspended following an improved pay offer.
Standing together
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s members have shown that by standing together in unity management has been obliged to make an improved pay offer.
"Stagecoach must understand that we remain utterly determined to secure proper and lasting improvements to the pay and conditions of our members."
Bus services in Chesterfield face severe disruption this autumn and winter as drivers employed by the Yorkshire Traction Company, part of the Stagecoach group, take strike action over low pay.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Low pay is the scourge of the bus industry right across this country. Stagecoach made profits touching £60m last year and has £875m in the bank. Yet it cannot make a decent inflation-busting offer to its staff.
Bus passengers in Greater Manchester could be facing severe disruption to their journeys if drivers employed by Stagecoach, vote for strike action in a dispute over pay.
Stagecoach, which operates as Greater Manchester Bus Company South, is refusing to make a pay offer which in anyway meets the aspirations of the drivers and is blaming the Covid pandemic for its actions.
Relentless campaign
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Bosses at Stagecoach should know that Unite is ready for a relentless campaign if our Manchester members vote for strike action.
“Unite members all over the UK are voting for industrial action right now over Stagecoach’s ‘penny pinching’ on pay. Stagecoach's board should be in no doubt that Unite is now wholly dedicated to advancing the jobs, pay and conditions of its members.”
Infuriated workforce
The company’s refusal to make a realistic offer, despite extensive negotiations has infuriated the workforce who continued to work throughout the pandemic in order to ensure that key workers in Manchester could get to work – at times risking their health and that of their families.
The ballot covers over a thousand bus drivers, who are members of Unite the UK’s leading union, based at the company’s depots in Hyde Road, Shaston, Stockport and Ashton. The company operates routes which go as far as Wigan, Oldham and Rochdale. Stagecoach is the largest bus operator in Greater Manchester.
Unite, the UK’s leading union, which represents tens of thousands of lorry drivers, has warned that the government’s announcement that it intends to relax the cabotage rules will result in misery and exploitation.
Pay strikes at Wigan plastic manufacturer Alpla UK have been postponed to allow workers to vote on an improved offer tabled by the company, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Friday 15 October).
Unions representing council and school support staff have today (Friday 15 October) urged employers to return to pay talks with an improved offer as they prepare for industrial action over “inadequate” pay proposals.
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