Bus disruption ahead following strike action
Commuters in Lanarkshire face disruption after staff at First Bus voted for strike action next month in a row over pay.
Unite the Union confirmed last week that dozens of workers employed by First Glasgow have voted overwhelmingly to strike.
The 60 workers, including bus cleaners and shunters, voted by 96 per cent in support of strike action in a ballot turnout of 87 per cent.
Two periods of 48-hour strike action will now take place on May 4 and 5 and then May 18 and 19.
The dispute centres on a two-year pay deal which the union say would take some workers to £9.48 per hour backdated to August 2021 to April 2022 – two pence below the adult minimum wage from April 2022 of £9.50 per hour.
The pay offer, branded insulting by the union, comes as the broader measure of inflation which reflects the true cost of living stands at a 30-year high of nine per cent.
According to the latest annual reports, the First Glasgow companies involved in the dispute returned a combined profit totalling £12.6 million.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:“that First Bus had the cheek to‘offer’two pence less than the current adult minimum wage is beyond insulting.
“This is a business with millions in the bank and comes at time of rapidly rising living costs. I am proud that Unite members have rejected the proposal overwhelmingly.
“First Glasgow would be wise to heed this overwhelming mandate for strike action and get round the table with a serious offer.
“Our members have the full support of Unite in their fight for better pay.”
Wendy Dunsmore, Unite industrial officer, added:“unite’s members at First Glasgow are determined to take a stand against poverty wages.
“The cleaners and shunters have been forgotten by their employer but they will not tolerate being treated as second class workers any longer.”
First Bus Scotland previously said that since March 2020, and the onset of Covid-19, passenger numbers have fallen by nearly a third and have still not fully recovered.
They added it is essential First Glasgow continues to operate on a “financially sustainable basis to allow for further reinvestment in zero emissions vehicles”to continue its journey towards a fully zero emission fleet by 2035.
In December 2021, more than 1300 First Glasgow bus drivers received inflation-busting pay rises of up to 21.5 per cent over two years depending on length of service.