Protest group block buses trying to leave strike depot
DRIVERS STAGING WALK-OUTS OVER PAY DISPUTE
ACTIVISTS blocked buses from leaving Rusholme depot during morning rush hour in support of striking drivers.
Around 40 members of the People’s Assembly protest group walked slowly in front of the gates of the depot, on Wilmslow Road, which meant several buses were unable to leave.
A number of First Manchester drivers who work at the depot are staging a walk-out as part of a continuing dispute over pay.
Members of Unite union who work from the Rusholme depot say they earn £95-a-week less than colleagues doing the same job based five miles away at Queen’s Road.
Drivers have been staging at least one strike a week since November, with further strike action planned for today.
They plan to walk out three days a week, every other week, until the end of February.
A spokesman for the People’s Assembly – an activist group supporting Unite – said: “On Wednesday morning a total of 14 buses were held up for over an hour. This is nothing to do with the union action, it is other local activists. We are also asking members of the public to sign a petition.
“The drivers at Rusholme are being paid £5,000 less. We have been asking people to sign the petition at the gates.”
Howard McArthur, a bus driver and chairman of Unite at the Rusholme depot, said: “They are losing a lot of drivers during the strike as they can’t afford to work here. Today for us has been a great success. It will be very hurtful to the company, they would have been fined heavily for not running services.”
Phil Medlicott, managing director at First Manchester, said: “We apologise to customers who have been affected by the disruption to our services leaving the Rusholme depot.
“We are continuing to work with the local police to minimise further disruption to services throughout the remainder of the industrial action.
“We remain extremely disappointed that some of our drivers from the Rusholme depot are continuing to strike, but we already have over 30 drivers who have returned to work at Rusholme and I’d urge all staff involved with the strike to think about the impact this is having on their friends and families and to return to work.”