NW First Bus Third Strike On!

Workers at First Bus, Manchester, begin their third 24-hour strike action tomorrow in a continuing dispute over the companies zero pay offer.

The 833 members of Unite in Wigan, Bolton, and Bury depots took part in two 24-hour stoppages earlier this month and were keen to avert the strike planned for Monday, but the company is still refusing to return to the negotiating table to find a solution to resolve the situation.

Unite is urging First Bus to reconvene talks to avert further strike action and major disruption to commuters in Manchester.

Unite regional industrial organiser, Bobby Morton, said: “We are disappointed that despite repeated efforts by Unite and ACAS the employers are still refusing to get around the table to negotiate a fair and decent offer.

“First Bus is not struggling or failing. It made millions of pounds in profits this year and is taking advantage of the recession to attack workers’ pay.

“We were hopeful that First Bus would play fairly and put a reasonable pay offer on the table in time to call off Monday’s strike action and stop disruption to commuters in Manchester. However, this has not happened and the company is continuing to be mean and greedy. Our members deserve a fair wage and we are determined to see that they get it.

“We are calling on the company to meet us to resolve this dispute and avoid the risk of further disruption on Monday 28th September.”