Sunday, July 27, 2008

John Biggs, London Assembly Member joins with bus drivers in battle for fair pay

Great picture of London City & East assembly member John Biggs at rally last week.

Due to Tory privatisation we have this completely nonsensical situation where London bus drivers are paid very different terms and conditions.

This is despite working for the same hours and driving the same buses for different companies.

This is just divisive and bound to cause disputes. Check out the press release below.

Labour London Assembly member John Biggs joined with London bus drivers and members of Unite trade union at City Hall this week to call for fairer pay and conditions for drivers across London’s bus network.

99% of Unite members have voted in favour of campaigning for a centrally organised pay structure for bus drivers - regardless of which bus company they work for. Currently, different bus operators have different pay scales and pension and holiday entitlements; some drivers can be earning up to £7,000 per year more than their colleagues working the same hours and driving the same vehicles but for different companies.


The protesters marched from Tower Bridge to City Hall where they gathered for a rally and were addressed by Assembly member John Biggs.

Speaking to the group John said: ‘We will continue to support your campaign for fair pay for all London bus drivers.’

Commenting after the rally he added ‘It was great to see so many bus drivers out campaigning today and my colleagues and I will do everything we can to improve the situation and close the gaps.

‘To have a situation where two people doing exactly the same job are earning vastly different sums and entitled to varying holiday and pension rights is deeply unfair and must be resolved. ‘
John concluded: ‘Our bus drivers keep London moving and should be shown the respect they deserve. The rally certainly sent a clear message to Mayor Johnson and I was delighted to be involved’.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

No doubt Ken Livingston supports their campaign now...he did bugger all about it when he was mayor.

Anonymous said...

so they all get the lower rate now? is that the campaign?

Anonymous said...

Well if after ten years of Labour they have to strike its a bit of a pathetic endictment.

John Gray said...

Hi Anons

Apologies for the delay in responding – computer problems. Yes, you have a point about the failure of the Labour government to do enough about the Tory policy of bus deregulations, but not about Ken or John. They have been consistent on calling for the government to do something and have not.

Hopefully they will change their mind soon!

(it was a rally not a strike)