Ironically the majority of people in and around Tameside still think all the buses locally are run by Stagecoach. When it was announced last Sunday stagecoach wouldn’t be striking the Tameside council leader posted ALL buses in Tameside would now be running. Obviously that wasn’t the case.
I hope that someone put the Tameside council leader correct in their misunderstanding. Andy Burnham as Mayor would not be happy to hear that a leader of a council area was unaware of what the Bee Network franchising entailed and with what operators in their particular area.
It was a her not a him and yes I pointed out that most Tameside services would NOT be running.
Appreciate TfGM take the revenue risk on it's contracts, but how is it actually managed?
It’s not just tranche 3. Middleton and Oldham are in tranche 2.
So the affected areas are those where changes of previous bus operators by this franchising system took place and the subsequent introduction of the Metroline interloper.
Stockport depot was on strike and they were Stagecoach before and after Bee Network.
As were Middleton!
Has that been the decision reached in a matter of legal process?
What rates of pay are being requested by the trades union in the three companies currently experiencing industrial action or are they asking for a percentage increase on current rates of pay?
I believe they want £18.50 an hour which they have been offered but not until April 2026. It’s £18.00 April 2025 (back dated) rising to £18.50 next April. The union is dead against two or three year pay deals because nobody knows how things are going to be in April next year.
So for 50p an hour until April 2026, when the promised £18.50 an hour will then come into effect, I hope that TfGM realise that it is the union who are the cause of the strike days with no Bee Network bus services running on the affected routes should they then decide to issue financial strictures on the bus operators concerned for not running bus services on strike days.
It's easy to dismiss an extra 50p per hour when you're well-off, retired and unlikely to have to worry about being able to afford the basics.
The example that you quote above does not apply to a very large number of people of all ages in an area where both Metroline and Stagecoach Manchester are the only two operational bus companies. Taxi firms (including these with Wolverhampton plates who should not be there) are doing a roaring trade, from what one taxi driver was telling me.
That presupposes that the trades union get any sum they ask for in the knowledge they are certain to get it.
That supposes they are asking for the same thing. One common theme is to compare rates to another company but not always the same one. So Lancashire might compare pay to Manchester but Manchester might compare pay to London.
Things like the bridge strike in Barton a few Months ago highlight the job us drivers do and the huge responsibility we have on our shoulders. I don’t think 50p an hour more is asking for much considering what train drivers are on etc.
I believe the offer that was put on the table for stagecoach and First was put to a members ballot with the union recommending the offer was rejected in both cases. Stagecoach did reject the offer but First voted to accept.
I do not doubt for a moment what you say above, but the connection that you make with train drivers is one that forum members who are train drivers may have some comment to make upon.
My comment was aimed at you who kind of dismissed the 50p an hour ad nothing major.
Have a look at Go North West's accounts - that 50p/hour x 1.6 (oncost) x 45 hrs/wk x 52 wks is about £1.9k per person.
Metroline only entered the Bee Network at Tranche 3 commencement, so the only rate of pay so far has been what was offered to drivers joining the company at that time. I recall some Stagecoach Manchester drivers at their Daw Bank, Stockport depot telling me at the time that they would not TUPE across from their area routes, but would stay with Stagecoach Manchester even it meant working on the Tranche 2 routes that Stagecoach Manchester had taken over from other operators.
At the age of 80, it is 15 years since I retired as Senior Head of Projects at the consultancy, so I no longer work in any sector. Two years after retirement, in July 2012, I suffered a stroke and my stroke consultant demanded that I gave up driving the Saab 9000 for the sake of other road users, to which I immediately complied. My wife then used her Land Rover Discovery as our sole mode of transport until the year prior to her death in 2021 from Vascular Dementia, when Covid was in full blast, so I don't need reminding of how the population was Covid-affected. I moved into Greater Manchester at the start of this year from Cheshire East and when I received my TfGM-issued ENCTS pass, I immediately paid the £10.00 TfGM surcharge that also enables me to use Metrolink and train services within the TfGM-administered area of Greater Manchester.
And ironically Go North west is the perfect example. They took over queens road several years ago. Immediately gave drivers a pay rise that made them the highest paying in Manchester which was great.
That wasn’t down to the union that’s down to the company and TFGM.