News from Unite the union
London bus bosses accused of using pandemic as ‘a smokescreen’ for attacks on pay, as 2,200 drivers set to strike
London bus passengers will face serious disruption as Unite the union confirmed that 2,200 bus drivers employed by RATP will strike next week over a sustained attack on their pay packets.
Unite accused the French-owned RATP of using the pandemic as ‘a convenient smokescreen’ to attempt to implement pay policies that could see some of their drivers lose up to £2,500-a-year.
RATP operates three subsidiaries across the London bus network: London United, London Sovereign and Quality Line.
Wage cuts of £2,500
Workers at London United, which provides bus services in south and west London will take strike action on Monday 22 February, Tuesday 23 February and Wednesday 24 February. Due to the proposed contracts drivers face wage cuts of £2,500 which will reduce wages to 2015 levels.
Workers at Quality Line, based at its depot in Epsom, Surrey, will take strike action on Monday 22 February and Tuesday 23 February in a dispute over pay. The drivers earn £2.50 an hour less than drivers at RATP’s other subsidiaries. The workers have been offered a derisory pay offer of 0.5 per cent (seven pence an hour).
Unite members at London Sovereign, who operate services in north west London, will take strike action on Monday 22 February in a pay dispute. The workers have been offered a pay increase of just 0.75 per cent, which is well below what has been offered by other operators. A further strike date has been announced for Wednesday 3 March.
Using the pandemic as a convenient smokescreen
Unite regional officer for RATP Michelle Braveboy said: “The strike action planned for next week will go ahead at RATP, bringing serious disruption to services in the south, west and north of London.
“RATP remains hell-bent on using the pandemic as a convenient smokescreen to attack key worker terms and conditions which, if implemented, will see drivers at London United lose up to £2,500-a-year, when the cost of living in the capital is soaring.
“These are not temporary changes, but permanent ones that will see members suffer a substantial financial loss. The dispute regarding the zero contract hours has also not been resolved.
“Members at London Sovereign are angry at the derisory offer and the strength of feeling is the same for those at Quality Line who are still some of the lowest paid drivers on Transport for London (TFL) routes. The bosses should have used this opportunity to address the disparity in pay for all drivers at the Epsom garage.
“Our members have no option other than to fight back against these attacks, while recognising the disruption caused.
“They are reluctant to take strike action at a time of national emergency, but feel they have been pushed against the wall by hardline directors.
“Even at this late stage, RATP has the opportunity to avert the strikes by withdrawing the threat to terms and conditions, continuing the negotiations and making a fair offer to our members.”
The routes affected will be those emanating from the following RATP garages:
Edgware, Epsom, Fulwell, Harrow, Hounslow, Park Royal, Shepherd’s Bush and Tolworth.
Other drivers protest against remote sign-on
Passenger welfare and staff safety are behind a re-ballot of more than 4,000 bus drivers in London for strike action over the controversial ‘remote sign-on’ policy, Unite the union, said today (Thursday 25 February).
Unite will be balloting its members employed by bus operator Metroline for a second time, following the breakdown of talks held under the auspices of the conciliation service Acas.
The ballot opens on Wednesday 3 March and closes on Friday 9 April. Metroline operates in north and west London and employs about 16 per cent of all bus drivers in the capital.
Remote sign on means drivers do not report to a depot but meet their bus at an alternative location such as a bus stop. It forces drivers to start work away from the depot, reducing costs and boosting the company’s profits.
Lack of toilets and canteens
The remote sign-on policy raises concerns over lack of toilets and canteens; increased driving hours; and waiting for the bus in inclement weather.
Unite regional officer Mary Summers said: “We strongly argue that there is no benefit to passengers and remote sign-on could well cause disruption to services used by the hundreds of thousands of people who use buses every day to get to work and school.
“Metroline’s plan for remote sign-on is the thin edge of the wedge and will lead to zero hour contracts across the industry. Drivers would have to choose to either ‘volunteer’ with a pay cut or be moved to another rota or route. That’s not voluntary – that’s blackmail.
“This campaign continues to be about safety and these issues were not even discussed at the Acas talks.
“Our members are not swayed or fooled by the employer’s promises to make remote sign-on voluntary and have been angered by the bosses’ threats of legal action to thwart the overwhelming and legitimate mandate for strike action democratically achieved in the first ballot.”
Ignoring financial, fatigue and safety implications
Unite lead officer for London buses John Murphy said: “The casual roll out of remote sign-on, while ignoring the financial, fatigue and safety implications that this will have on bus drivers is incredible and foolhardy.
“It is not the way they were expecting to be treated after the commitment shown by bus workers and the sacrifice of those we sadly lost during this pandemic. Most are genuinely shocked that Transport for London (TfL) and bus companies would ignore the obvious risk this causes to protect their profit margins.”
Drivers at Metroline voted by 97 per cent for strike action in the autumn, however due to a technical issue the union was likely to fall victim to the UK’s anti-trade union rules, so strikes were not called.
Editor’s note: this article is a combination of two press releases from Unite the union.
