Clandestine meetings denied
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• The Scottish Bus Group denied on February 8 that it had been involved in "clandestine" meetings with officials of Dundee Corporation about the sale to the group of the city's buses. This allegation had been made by Cllr. Tom Moore, leader of the Labour group, at the council's meeting on February 6.
A spokesman for the group admitted that there had been meetings with Dundee officials. "But everything is completely above board", he added.
air. Moore said he felt there would be so much public disquiet that there should be an impartial inquiry into the situation. On Monday of last week a demonstration against the proposed sale of the undertaking was staged by a group of Dundee workers, about 60 per cent of which were building workers. A spokesman for Dundee Corporation Transport told CM that despite the demonstration no buses were off the roads and no staff were absent. The decision to sell the transport undertaking was taken at a council meeting at the end of last year (CM January 31 by 18 votes to 1? when it was agreed to begin negotiations with the SBG. However, the way was left open for the employees to negotiate an agreement with the Corporation to make the undertaking viable, and thus avoid falling into the hands of a nationalized industry.
Background to the Corporation's proposal to sell is several years of trouble between the local TGWU men and the transport undertaking. By refusing to co-operate with the department on productivity proposals including one-man operation, the bus crews made the undertaking non-viable. The council eventually decided to cut its losses by selling-out. This move was opposed by the TGWU as the pay and agreements for municipal busmen are better than those for company crews and the offer to negotiate was made by the Corpora
tion. F. K. M