UK: Manchester bus drivers dispute Unite union’s “victory” claim at Go North West
Manchester bus drivers have called into question the “victory” pronounced by Unite the union after the deal it struck at Go North West ending the 11 week strike at the Queens Road depot.
Drivers related their experiences and views, both on the strike by 400 workers against the imposition of inferior terms and conditions through a “fire and rehire” on contract threat and the consequences of the agreement recommended by Unite. They spoke during a campaign by Socialist Equality Party members to win support for the reinstatement of victimised London bus driver David O’Sullivan.
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Allinson is a typical representative of the “union activist” invariably low-ranking functionaries and members of various pseudo-left and Stalinist groups, whose activism is carried out solely in the interests of the union bureaucracy’s imposition of the dictates of the corporations.
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By Ögmundur Jónsson May 24, 2021
MANCHESTER, England Some 400 Unite union members at the Queens Road bus depot here are continuing their strike after making some headway when Go North West bosses agreed to end threats to fire workers and to start talks. The bosses had previously demanded workers sign contracts that included longer hours with no pay increase and less sick pay, or be fired. The drivers have been on strike since Feb. 28.
Hundreds attended a solidarity rally for the strikers organized by the Manchester Trades Union Council as part of May Day activities May 3. Colin Hayden, chairperson of the Unite branch at the depot, said that Go Ahead, which owns Go North West, had agreed to withdraw “fire and rehire” and declared individual contracts some drivers had signed under threat of losing their jobs null and void. Two drivers who had been fired were reinstated.