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, says the Unite Union, 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.
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.”
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.
The ballot for strike action opens on Tuesday 28 September and closes on Tuesday 12 October. If members vote for industrial action then strikes could begin later this autumn.
