Socialist Appeal - Bus Drivers dispute in South Yorkshire set to continue

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Bus Drivers dispute in South Yorkshire set to continue

By Richard Vivian (Unite)

Monday, 06 February 2012

The 250 Unite bus drivers based at Barnsley and Rotherham bus depots are set to continue their 9 week long dispute with Stagecoach the bus company owned by multi-millionaire Brian Souter. In the absence of any realistic offers to the drivers pay claim of around £10.00 per hour by the management of Stagecoach, the bus drivers, have agreed to continue their programme of one day strikes with another series of four day strikes to take place on the 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th of February. Today, (4th Feb), I joined the bus driver’s picket at Barnsley bus station which was reinforced by a rally organised by Barnsley Trades Union Council.

Around 200 marched around the town centre to great applause by shoppers, many of whom joined the march and the brief rally in which speaker after speaker pledged to carry on the dispute in the face of the present impasse in negotiations between the union and management. In their leaflet to the public explaining the reasons for the dispute the drivers have set out the following facts:

Stagecoach profits 2010-11 up 52%
Final dividends to shareholders up 9.2%
Wealth of owner Brian Souter in 2010 was an estimated £400 million

Given these plain facts it is not too much to ask for a decent living wage for workers who have the responsibility of driving buses ensuring passenger safety and collecting fares.

Messages of support should be emailed to Barnsley Unite branch secretary Tony Rushforth at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Cheques should be made payable to TGWU 9/9 Barnsley and sent to A Rushforth, 45 Tune Street,Wombwell, Barnsley S73 8PX

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