1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196 
Municipal pay talks postponed
Page 26
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
BRITAIN's 70,000 municipal busmen must wait until Thursday of next week for a reply to their claim for substantial pay increases. Talks on a new pay deal were adjourned last week without firm proposals being made by the employer's side. As an interim measure, how ever, the operators agreed to consolidate immediately the £3.20 a week threshold payment into basic rates, thus making it eligible for overtime and shift premiums.
After the talks last week Mr Larry Smith, of the Transport and General Workers' Union, said: "We are disappointed not to have a concrete offer. The employers said they were not in a position to answer the claim because they had not been able to cost each item." The eight-point claim included demands for a • substantial pay rise, revaluation and consolidation of service pay, shift pay increases, five days more holiday, a standard eighthour day and re-evaluation of maintenance workers to compare with skilled workers in other industries. Weekly rates in the municipal industry range from £20.15 to £26.85.
The busmen still have two months to run on their existing pay. deal, but argue that their claim does not break the spirit of the social contract because of the chronic staff shortages in the industry.
A similar claim on behalf of the 90,000 busmen employed by the provincial bus companies was also lodged last week. Their existing agreement does not officially expire until March 1.