SOUTHERN VECTIS BUS WORKERS STRIKE OVER PAY FREEZE

RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: september 2009 :: RMTnews 16 S outhern Vectis bus drivers on the Isle of Wight took solid strike action this month in response to the refusal of the company management to budge on its zero per cent pay “offer”. The company, part of the giant Go-Ahead group, has failed to make any pay offer to their drivers this year forcing staff to take action. RMT general secretary Bob Crow congratulated members for refusing to be beaten down and for taking solid action in their campaign for a fair deal on pay. “The company is making big profits but is using fear over job losses and the recession to try and smuggle in a pay freeze and RMT members have shown that they will not be bullied in that way,” he said. RMT News spoke some of the workers on the picket line who braved company intimidation to make their stand. Standing on the picket line at Ryde bus station, Newport Isle of Wight No 2 branch secretary, Keith Murphy, said that members were out on a number of picket lines because they had not had a despite many meetings hoping to resolve it. The public response has been supportive as passers by took leaflets handed out by the strikers explaining that Southern Vectis had made over £2 million in profit in the first quarter of the year and was passing on the profits to shareholders instead of staff. The company’s response when staff voted for strike action was to immediately suspend the company’s sick pay scheme and to tell strikers that their holiday pay will be reduced. They also told the local media that the union was asking for a 15 per cent pay rise when in fact negotiations had never got far enough to mention a figure.Regional organiser Pete Gale said that he was really impressed by the turnout and support for the strike, in spite of management using intimidatory tactics. “They have spoken to every individual asking if they are prepared to cross a picket line. “Most disgraceful of all, company officials have been speaking to people who have less than a year’s service and told them that they won’t have a job if they go on strike. “Even today we have had managers taking photographs of individuals on the picket line,” he said. In an attempt to break the strike, the company operated a skeletal bus service on the day, shipping in managers and others from the mainland at huge cost and putting them up in hotels. The company also reduced fares for the day and told the drivers that it shipped in to take fares but not issue tickets. At bus stations’ buses were mounting curbs as the drivers – many of whom had not driven a bus in many years – tried to negotiate the unfamiliar terrain. As RMT News went to press two more strike days were planned on September 11 and 12. SOUTHERN VECTIS BUS WORKERS STRIKE OVER PAY FREEZE Isle of Wight bus drivers launch first of three days of planned strike action