Tyneside tries again
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• Tyneside PTE is making further efforts to obtain Government permission to pay a 10 per cent shift allowance to bus workers at Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shields. The PTE's proposal to pay the extra money was frozen by the Pay Board because it was agreed after last November's wage freeze started.
The PTE is investigating the possibility of paying the allowance under the Terms and Conditions of Employment Act, 1959. It is understood that wage increases awarded under this act do not infringe the pay freeze regulations. In the meantime about 1500 busmen at South Shields and Newcastle, directly concerned with the claim, are withholding threatened industrial action for the time being. PTE employees in the Sunderland division already receive the shift allowance.
• Tyneside PTE is trying to recruit more bus drivers for its Sunderland services. Jobs are available for another 70 crew members.
Mr Alan Wright, the PTE's Sunderland area manager, said drivers were leaving because the travelling public grumbled too much about services. He urged the public not to complain, and pointed out that when a bus did not turn up, it was not the driver's fault. If people did not complain, drivers might not leave their jobs.