METROBUS and First Centrewest Buses stopped throughout London yesterday.
Metrobus is out for 24 hours while First Centrewest Buses are stopped for 48 hours.
Strike ballots are now also being held in most other London bus companies in similar disputes over pay.
The busworkers union Unite submitted a London-wide claim to all bus operators in March of this year to challenge the current system whereby drivers (and other grades) performing identical jobs within the TfL-regulated industry, receive hugely varying pay and conditions.
In a recent ballot of Unite’s 28,000 bus workers, 99% voted yes to the proposed single rate of pay across the network.
Unite is calling for a single rate of pay for drivers of £30,000 a year, based on a 38-hour week.
Currently the 18 London bus companies all operate with different pay structures, with pay inequalities of up to £6,000 a year.
There is a startling disparity between bus drivers pay in the capital, with rosters in some companies seeing many drivers’ complete nearly 60 hours per week.
At Greenford bus garage in West London, Anson Ajai told News Line: ‘We deserve more money. There should be a national settlement. We all do the same job. It is not right that some should be paid more than others.
‘The whole bus service should be nationalised.’
Alvyn Thomas added: ‘This is a big garage with 500 drivers. We cover a wide area from Chiswick to Heathrow.
‘Action at this garage has been a long time coming. ‘they’ve been stalling us for so long.
‘Whenever they give us a pay rise, they attach strings to it.
‘It’s like they give with one hand but take with the other.
‘We are determined to win.’
Gerar Karimi said: ‘I’ve been a bus driver for 6 years and it’s not an easy job.
‘Inflation is soaring. Gas and electricity are up 30% in the last 6 months. Now why shouldn’t wages go up?’
Ali Sarchamee said: ‘The management had a 30% pay rise, and they are offering us 3.5 % which is unfair.
‘We have to fight across all the bus companies and hit them hard, not just a strike on Friday and Saturday, but Monday and Tuesday.’
Mowlid Abdullahi said: ‘We are strong here, united and very determined.
‘We need a general strike. We can’t live on what we are getting.’
David Turnbull, Unite rep at Alperton Garage, said: ‘We put our claim in for a substantial pay rise and claim on unsocial hours and holiday rates.
‘We want standardised rates of pay for everyone.’
‘It is 100% solid on strike here; enough is enough.’
Yasin Faizal, a striking bus worker, said: ‘We should renationalise the buses. Then the buses will run on time, rather than the chaos now under private companies.
‘Drivers will benefit too by getting good salaries.
‘The cost of living is shooting up. We have huge mortgages to pay.
‘We are working 50 to 60 hours a week and we never see our kids.’
Another striking bus worker, Abu Baker, said: ‘Bus drivers have a lot of responsibility.
‘We are the backbone of the company.
‘If bus drivers don’t get a liveable wage, how can the bus service survive?’
At Westbourne Park garage, Unite local rep Osman Rage told News Line: ‘Number one, we want a decent pay rise, and number two we are angry at the way management are treating us over disciplinary issues.
‘Drivers who return to work after a period of sickness are often disciplined.
‘During the last strike, the small number of drivers who worked, got an extra £100.
‘I know that because some of those 14 drivers are out on strike today and only seven out of 720 drivers have crossed the picket line.
‘The company have contacted ACAS about talks, so we asked if there was more money on the table and they said no – their offer still remains at 3.5%.’
