REMEMBERING THE DEVON BUS STRIKE

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: september 2023 :: RMTnews 23 Whilst recently going through my old diary collection going back to 1998, the first year I became chairman of South Devon Bus Branch, I came across the 2003 RMT diary. This was the year of the long-running and unforgettable RMT strike at Stagecoach Devon after the company attempted to slash pay and our terms and conditions. This was despite the fact that Stagecoach was making profits of in excess of 20 per cent every year. Moreover, Stagecoach boss Brian Souter has also just awarded himself a 72 per cent pay rise, taking his pay to a whooping £800,000 a year. And what is the reward for RMT members’ sacrifice? Drivers at Stagecoach Devon were paid just £5.93 an hour, one of the lowest rates in the country and nearly 20 per cent below the industry average. In June, after weeks of preparation, RMT’s negotiating committee called a strike meeting to prepare to take eight days of 24-hour strike action throughout the month. In an attempt to break the strike, Stagecoach Devon managing director Christopher Hilditch slapped an overtime ban on striking drivers, resulting in bus services being slashed in Exeter, Exmouth and Torbay on non-strike days. Stagecoach also flew down drivers from as far afield as Aberdeen to cover the main service from Newton Abbot to Torquay and on to Paignton. But all other routes were suspended and the cost must have been enormous. Newly elected general secretary Bob Crow had just settled into the job, but he found time to turn up on the picket line on June 15. This was the first time I met him and, in the years to come, I was able to call him a friend. Later that day Bob marched with hundreds of members through the streets of Exeter. What a sight it was. Finally, Stagecoach summoned the negotiating committee and, after protracted talks, RMT’s regional organiser Phil Bialyk and the team left triumphant with all our terms and conditions intact and a 5.2 per cent pay rise. Each member may have lost money during the strike, but all the terms and conditions stayed at least until I retired in 2016 after being a member since July 1986. I became a member of the branch committee from 1997, then chair and junior rep till 2005 when I became full time rep. I have been involved in five AGMs and been a tutor since 2010. I would like to think I have done my bit. To all members I would say this, remember that ‘Unity is Strength’. And as my tutor friend who passed away a couple of years ago, Danny Ferguson would say, ‘Don't Let The Bastards Grind You Down’. Solidarity brothers and sisters. p p REMEMBERING THE DEVON BUS STRIKE Retired South Devon bus branch chair Dave Gilbey recounts how the union faced down Stagecoach 20 years ago