Bus peace: hopes are thin
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EDINBURGH, Tyneside, Tees-side and the North West have been particularly badly affected by the municipal busmen's bans on standing passengers and overtime working in pursuit of their local pay claims —notably a .E15 minimum wage. But in some areas crews have worked normally.
Bradford and Leeds (the latter hard hit by overtime cuts) are among towns reportedly ready to talk with the unions. In Lancashire, Oldham had only 44 out of 70 buses on the road on Monday and Leigh was affected by an earlier ban.
Glasgow was one city where talks of strike action followed the lodging of demands by TGWU.
Last week the Ministry of Labour's conciliation officer, Mr. H. Marsh, met the unions and on Monday he saw the employers. A statement afterwards gave little hope of an early meeting between the sides.
Meanwhile the employers' federation, in a detailed statement, has repudiated the suggestion that the bonus-loss clause is in any way "penal" as argued by the unions.