Late signing costs busmen Elm
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• Thousands of drivers and conductors have been left out of a 10 per cent rise in shift allowance because of delays in signing a wage agreement.
Although union and management of the Merseyside, Tyneside and Glasgow PTEs reached agreement in principle in October, it was not signed before November 6 1972 and therefore was not in time to be considered under Phase Two.
And now all the Pay Board says it can do is to consider the increase under Phase Three of the Government's Prices and Incomes Policy later this year.
This will mean that 12,000 busmen will work for about £2 less shift money a week on the basic allowance for about a year — more than ilm in a year.
National secretary for the Transport and General Workers' Union passenger services group, Mr Larry Smith, commented: "It's like having a dialogue with the dead. But we're still pressing the Pay Board for the application to be considered as early as possible.
"It seems that the Pay Board's only objection is that the agreement was not formalized before November 6, even though both sides had agreed," he added.