All-out strike threat
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• Go-ahead Northern continues to be dogged by industrial unrest with the threat of an all-out strike following last week's one-day stoppage, which put nearly all of GAN's 600-plus buses off the road.
More than 1,500 drivers are protesting about plans to cut jobs and wages, chiefly in GAN's South Tyneside area, (CM 31 May-6 June). The company also wants to devolve pay bargaining to individual depots. Commercial director Chris Moyes says this is essential if GAN is to survive in South Tyneside and Sunderland: "Rather than close depots, it is sensible to offer staff the opportunity to get the depots on a sound economic footing," he says. GAN pays its drivers at least 50p an hour more than rival Northumbria Motor Services on the same routes, he adds. The Transport and General Workers' Union has attacked the company's financial priorities, citing its recent purchase of 20 pubs and a taxi company, as well as the proposed pay structure. "We have no assurance that senior and junior management will be treated in the same way," says regional secretary Jo Mills. "The company is expecting the workers to pay for this venture into other areas of business, which is jeopardising public transport and their employment."
Moyes dismisses this view as short-sighted, saying the aim of the acquisitions "is to boost company income". He adds that it is agreed any los ses caused by industrial action are offset against the company's profit-related pay system.
The TGWU is also concerned that paying workers' on the basis of a depot's profits does not take into account length of service. GAN district manager Keith Moffatt says a lump sum or some other payoff may be offered in compensation, and talks between union and management are expected this week.