EAST MIDS BUS STRIKE SUSPENDED

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: november/december 2023 :: RMTnews 14 P lanned rolling 48-hour strike action by bus workers at Stagecoach East Midlands was suspended following an improved multi-year pay offer. Following notice of strike action members at Stagecoach East Midlands were made an offer representing an 18.7 per cent rise in total with the next pay anniversary date to be July 1, 2026 which was rejected in a referendum. A further offer was made to bring wages above £15 per hour before the end of the deal in December 2025 which has been put out to referendum. Bus drivers currently only earn £10.93 an hour when they start the job with it only rising to £12.50 after one year's service. This is despite Stagecoach’s latest financial report which revealed that it had paid out dividends to shareholders worth £47.5 million. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch congratulated members for an impressive show of industrial strength and determination which had significantly moved management. ”Strong organisation and being prepared to take significant stoppages gave our negotiators the leverage needed to achieve this new offer. “The huge endorsement for strike action by Stagecoach members reflected the growing disgust amongst bus workers at being taken for granted while their pay continued to fall in real terms,” he said. GETTING ORGANISED RMT bus workers have set up an organising committee for the purposes of recruitment following a motion from the bus workers conference which was endorsed by the annual general meeting earlier this year. The committee met at Unity House and agreed to ensure that the annual national organising conference of bus workers carry out its organising strategy. The priorities included the need to plan, map and sustain regular activity around issues that bus workers feel strongly about. ORGANISING: The bus workers organising committee: (From left to right) Edmond Sturgess, Eddie Dempsey, Jason Gosling, Keith Murphy, Gary Jackson, Lee Rundle and Stephen Lethbridge. EAST MIDS BUS STRIKE SUSPENDED COME TO THE BUS WORKERS’ CONFERENCE The national organising conference of bus workers takes place every year and the 2024 conference takes place in Grimsby on April 12/13. Its aim is to discuss issues affecting bus workers and feed in motions and strategies to the union’s annual general meeting which meets in June every year. Members who wish to attend please contact your branch secretary.