Bus Strikes

today was the 7th of 8(so Far) strikes. Onthe picket line at Wakefield Road depot from 5-30 we received an absolutely tremendous boost to the confidence when 3 strangers got out of a car and came towards us. It turned out they were First Bus drivers from Sheffield who had come to show support before starting their own shifts back in Sheffield. It is really impossible to describe the lift this gave us so I won't try suffice to say they promised they would be back in greater numbers on the next scheduled strike day 16th Jan. I say scheduled because our branch secretary has received a communication from Paul Lynch saying that THEY want a meeting on Friday of this week to discuss pay. This is tempered by a request not to get our hopes built too high but who knows, fingers crossed.

 

what sort of pay rise / conditions etc are you asking for fella?

 

Its been well documented by me on here but basically £9 ph 12 month deal back pay to last april which is the pay anniversary. I have scanned a leaflet, that was being distributed by The Barnsley Trades Council this morning, on to my Facebook page but being a pc numpty I don't know how to put it on here for anybody to read that might be interested.

 

Oh sliped my mind, I just worked Bank Holiday Monday for normal pay and no day off in lieu.

 

i hope you get all you ask for , some of my mates just worked bank holiday and christmas day too , on normal pay , with no day off in lieu either.... they've been on a pay freeze for the last 2 years and have given a 1% rise this year....

its a bugger being a serviceman serving in Afghanistan

 

I stand humbled.

 

It wasn't a dig fella, Im fully behind anyone prepared to stand up for what they believe to be right. Good luck

 

you should think ya sen lucky you have a job ****.

the building trade is on its knees in last 3 years taken pay cuts and been out of work nearly a year but no one gives a toss abart us.

also had car and house repossesed hope you had a good christmas cause i aint

 

Stagecoach are recruiting, if you think i'm that lucky pop down give it a go, i reckon with a lot of luck and a fair wind you might still be there at Easter, and that's no reflection on your driving capabilities or anything else.

 

i doubt i would be there at easter as soon as i hear about my immigration im leaving to live in usa.

im just trying to make a point that you should be grateful you have a job and not like me be on less money than i was 7 years ago.

 

That's a common reply, in your case not a get out, but strangely there doesn't seem to be a queue to sign on.

 

I'm sure your all gagging to know the outcome of todays meeting called by management. As I said we were warned not to get our hopes built up too high and so it turned out. The offer "resurrected" today was almost identical to one voted on and rejected early in the dispute. I say almost, because Paul Lynch has shown today the contempt with which he views his staff. The offer £9.05p an hour immediately with no back pay to last April and no further talks til April 2013. Where this offer differs from the previous one is, that as well as no back pay he also proposes to take from us what is called "walking Time" this is time we are paid to walk between whereever our bus is parked and the canteen. this amounts to 3mins to and 3mins from. Bear in mind that our canteen is acroos Midland Street halfway up Eldon Arcade and then up 4 flights of stairs, when Eldon Arcade is shut it is 5 flights up the back stairs. If the bus has been left towards the entrance to the bus station or if that is where you are to pick your bus up you really could do with being an Olympic athlete.
One of our colleagues who is a bit of a maths boffin has done a quick calculation and with no back pay and losing walking time we are very nearly funding the "rise" ourselves. I wouldn't be 100% certain but I think it will get voted out in the ballot next Thursday.

 

I thought bus drivers were on £15,000 or something, not £18,000 or £19,000, granted it's not that much but more than most people working in retail/factories/call centres/admin.

 

Amazing turning down £9 an hour. Idiotic.

 

yeah those call centre people have really got pressure of lives in their hands. ffs

 

You are still under immense pressure in call centres to hit targets. Different kind of pressure but it is still a weight on your shoulders. And to be fair they have it easier than drivers in sheffield.

 

you don't take up to 52 people out if you make a mistake in a call centre or lose your own life. all you lose their is your job.

 

You're complaining because they won't pay you to walk to the canteen?

 

That payment has been in our contracts since Yorkshire Traction days why should we give it up in order to help fund our own pay rise?

 

The canteen has been moved out of the bus station where the buses are parked and it is not down to the drivers!!