• As the bus strike in West Yorkshire goes into
Page 18
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
its third week, senior managers from the West Yorkshire Road Car Company are hopeful of getting the matter resolved at an interim industrial tribunal this week.
The strike was called on January 16 over the sacking of a York Transport and General Workers' Union branch secretary, Derek Smallwood, after he used the company's name in an advertisement calling a public meeting on bus services.
More than 650 drivers at the company's Bradford, Malton, Keighley, York, Otley and Leeds depots walked out in support of Smallwood, with only drivers at the Harrogate depot reporting for work as normal.
Drivers at the Malton depot returned to work this week and some drivers at Leeds have been crossing the picket lines to get to work.
West Yorkshire Road Car Company, part of the National Bus Company, has defended its sacking of Smallwood by saying he was in breach of discipline. "Fie was not dismissed for trade union activities," says company spokesman, Thomas Fox.