Oldham bus drivers announce further 12 days of strikes

The strikes, which began earlier this month, are part of a pay dispute between around 360 bus drivers, represented by Unite, and First Manchester.

Earlier this month, bus driver and union branch secretary Neil Fitzpatrick spoke to The Oldham Times on the picket line.

He said: “Since we put our pay claim in they had all of January, February and March and we never spoke at all. They only started the talks on April 1, which was our pay anniversary.

“The offers we’ve been offered do not meet the pay claim and the final offer got kicked out by the branch with 87 per cent rejections.”

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Further dates announced see the strikes stretch in to August, with strikes now due to take place on July 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, and 31, as well as August 2, 4, 7, 10, and 11.

Action already took place on July 7, 10, 11, and 13.

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School services will continue to operate during the strikes. The 184 between Oldham and Huddersfield is run by First West Yorkshire rather than First Manchester, so will also continue to run.

First Manchester said its 15.2 per cent pay offer was ‘generous’.

The operator also refuted claims by Unite that the offer is ‘subpar’.

First's bus depot on Wallshaw Street, Oldham (Image: Jack Fifield, Newsquest)

Ian Humphreys, managing director of First Manchester, said: “We have been in discussions about pay since February and amended our ‘no strings’ offer to bring forward a further increase in pay to this October and this was rejected.

“This would have made our drivers some of the best-paid in the region.

“Announcing further strike dates is not the way to get this situation resolved.

“Continued industrial action will be damaging to everyone and cause yet more severe disruption to the daily lives of our customers who rely on the bus to get to work, education and for appointments.”

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Unite said Oldham’s drivers are paid around a pound an hour less than the region’s other bus operators, and that the pay deal proposed comes in three parts – with a rise backdated from April, another implemented from October, and a final one in January.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “First has millions in the bank and is penny pinching – much to the detriment of the travelling public. The amount it would cost to implement a single pay deal is water off a duck’s back to the company. 

“To First Manchester’s struggling drivers, however, receiving a full pay rise in one go will help relieve the financial pressures they are under from rising prices and historic low pay. Our members do a tough job, First Manchester needs to acknowledge that by providing a no-strings pay deal.”

The union added that more strikes would be called if First Manchester did not put forward an improved pay offer.

Unite regional officer Colin Hayden said: “First’s drivers do not want to strike but the company has left them with no choice.

"This situation could have been resolved weeks ago were it not for First Mancheser’s bullheadedness and greed.

"The company must come back with an offer that meets our members’ expectations.”