BACKING THE BUS WORKERS’ CHARTER

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: may/june 2026 :: RMTnews 10 Bus workers launched a charter for increases in pay, reduction in working hours and improved safety at work at their grades conference in Chesterfield. Members who work as drivers, engineers, cleaners and other grades in the bus industry, are being encouraged to take the charter into negotiations in order to get a better deal at work. Launching the charter, RMT assistant general secretary and the lead officer for buses, Daren Ireland, said that it was a serious document. “It sets out key demands and a key national strategy for our representatives here to table in negotiations. “And what my ask is, is that we need to have a consistent approach as to how we improve on pay, terms and conditions,” he said. Detailing the industrial landscape and the varying rates of pay for bus workers, he said: “The privatisation and fragmentation that have been driven by deregulation over the last forty plus years has led us to a position where we no longer organising within nationalised companies. “Employers are taking control, where the employer will push for lower pay and cut services which will badly impact on local communities”. He went on to highlight just how useful and practical a document like the bus workers charter could be in negotiations with employers, adding: “This document is about trying to tackle your employers with a consistent strategy, such that we can improve and get to, a position where we have one common set of pay and conditions for all bus workers that are decent”. He also savaged private bus companies: “The likes of First Bus, the likes of Stagecoach, and the likes of Go-Ahead. All their CEOs have benefited out of public money given to those companies. “And if you look at the salaries of those CEOs, they’re all on a million pound-plus - an absolute staggering amount of money. That is about fifty times what you earn. “They’re only interested in running services if it’s for a profit or it’s funded through taxation”. Julie Tobin, South Devon Bus who played a key role in the development of the Charter, told RMT News: “I am really pleased that we’ve managed to put this Bus Charter together. “It will equip our representatives with the principles that we expect for our members. “It gives them a very clear guideline about what it is that the union that they’re a part of is actually fighting for and it shows that RMT is fighting for them in the workplace. “That means fighting to improve living standards and their safety standards in which they work. So I’m very proud BACKING THE BUS WORKERS’ CHARTER Bus workers launch charter at the grades conference in Chesterfield