Trentbarton drivers to strike over ‘poverty pay’

Trentbarton, the East Midlands bus company, is at loggerheads with the the UK’s largest union and is facing strike action, it has emerged.

The Unite union says its members at Trentbarton will strike next Monday (10 September) because some bus drivers in Nottingham and Derbyshire have had to resort to food banks to augment their low wages.

Unite said that 160 drivers working for Trentbarton, part of the Wellglade Group, are planning a day of strike action after rejecting a 2.5 per cent pay offer for the year April 2018 – April 2019.

Unite has called on the management to negotiate in a positive way as further strikes are planned for 17 and 24 September and into October and November, after the workers had voted by 70 per cent for strike action.

Unite said that the firm had “muddied the waters” by including the statutory one per cent auto-enrolment pension contribution in the offer to make it appear that the offer is 3.5 per cent, when the union said that the auto-enrolment issue should be decoupled from annual pay.

The same pay offer to 450 Unite members at another subsidiary, Trent Motor Traction Company, was also overwhelmingly rejected and this could trigger an industrial action ballot.

Unite regional officer Scott Lennon said: “We are calling on the management to get around the table and negotiate in a constructive fashion to achieve a fair pay deal for our members.

“Our 160 drivers working from depots at Nottingham, Mansfield and Heanor in Derbyshire voted by 70 per cent to strike next Monday (10 September) and on other dates in the autumn over pay.

“This dispute could well escalate as fellow workers at Trent Motor Traction Company have also rejected this dismal pay offer.

“I appreciate that this industrial action will cause problems for the travelling public, but our members’ wages are lagging behind as the cost of living soars.

“The drivers have seen reductions in their shifts and potential earning capacity cut drastically. Our members are living hand to mouth and some are even having to use food banks, which is a disgrace for a dedicated workforce in 2018.

“We have been informed of at least five cases of our members who have had to resort to food banks to augment their poverty pay.”

In response, Trentbarton said that it will keep passengers informed should the strike action take place.

In a statement, the firm said: “Depending on the number of the Unite member drivers who refuse to work their shifts, services within Nottinghamshire and into and out of the county may be affected. On each day of industrial action, services will be assessed and some will have to be reluctantly cancelled or run at a reduced frequency.

“Trentbarton has prepared contingency plans aimed at running as many services at the highest frequency that it can.”