Pay Rise Will Cost £31m. : Bus Operators Want Higher Fares
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THE pay rise of 10s. a week, which was accepted last Friday by the I unions representing some 100,000 company bus workers, will cost an estimated £3fm. a year, The Commercial Motor was reliably informed on Monday. Already, some large companies have announced their intention of making immediate applications for higher fares, and it is expected that the majority will be forced to follow suit.
One of these is Scottish Omnibuses, Ltd. They expect the wage increase to cost them about £.750,000 a year.
The pay increases, which took effect from last week, are as follows (the figures in parentheses are the new basic weekly rates); Drivers, 10s. (£7 7s.); conductors, 10s. (£7 3s.); skilled maintenance workers, 10s. (£7 19s. 6d.); semi-skilled workers, grade 1, 6s, (17 Is. 6d.); grade 2, 5s. (£6 16s.); and grade 3, 5s. (£6 1 ls.). The recommendations also provided that the added rate per hour over the corresponding rate for day work, to be paid for all hours on permanent night work, be increased from 2d. to 3d. Penalty payments of 7d. an hour for work performed after I p.m. on Saturdays are to be increased to 10d. for all employees entitled to repayments.
Seeking Increased Fares
Following the increases, which will cost Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., £180,000 a year, the company are to seek permission to add Id. to most of their stage-service fares. • An " early application " is to be made by the Yorkshire Traction Co., Ltd. The general manager, Mr. N. H. Dean, said the award would cost them £50,000. Trent Motor Traction Co., Ltd., will probably apply for higher fares. The pay increase will cost the company nearly 160,000. Proposals for fare increases are being drafted by the North Western Road Car Co., Ltd., to whom this latest award will cost £105,000 a year. Crosville Motor Services, Ltd., will have to find an extra £150,000. Mr. W. J. CrosEand-Taylor, general manager, said it was almost certain they would have to apply -for an advance in fares. Stating that the company expected to have to pay another £38,000 a year, an official of Barton Transport, Ltd., commented that "the majority of the companies" would have to apply for higher fares. Application to abolish workers' fares, and to increase the price of season tickets, will probably be made by Bristol Tramways and Carriage Co., Ltd., to whom the wage increase will cost approximately £220,000. Mr. W. T. Gailey, traffic manager, said that substantial increases in fares on country routes may also be necessary. A claim for parity in wage rates with busmen in Britain has been lodged by transport workers in Northern Ireland. A rise of a week is being claimed by drivers, conductors, and garage