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From The Socialist newspaper, 1 December 2021
South Yorkshire Stagecoach drivers strike against measly 1% pay offer
Scunthorpe scaffolders on strike, photo: Alistair Tice (Click to enlarge)
Alistair Tice, Yorkshire Socialist Party
Stagecoach bosses in South Yorkshire have always tried to play off one depot against another, with different settlement dates and pay rates across Barnsley, Rotherham and the two Sheffield garages. So Unite the union submitted an RPI-plus 1% pay claim for all South Yorkshire depots back in May, but the company offered a derisory 1%. Since then prices have rocketed, so now RPI-plus 1% is going to cost the company a lot more.
On 28 November, around 600 Stagecoach bus workers started a week-long strike across the four depots. Barnsley strikers were joined by Unite Community members and the 'Better Buses campaign' with their 'solidarity bus'. Pickets at Rawmarsh in Rotherham spread across both sides of the main road and there were 15-20 at the Ecclesfield depot in Sheffield.
Knowing that Stagecoach can't keep drivers due to low pay, and encouraged by other bus strike victories, Unite members are determined and confident of winning a decent pay rise.
This strike follows 17 days of strike action at Stagecoach in South Wales where Unite members won a pay rise.
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In The Socialist 1 December 2021:
News
Covid-19: New variant emerges but same old capitalist disease
27 dead in channel migrant tragedy
Bulb bailed out, nationalise energy to solve price crisis
Khan threatens further London transport cuts
Kickstart scheme 'insufficient and flawed'
Tories strengthen repressive laws
COP26
After COP26: where next for the climate movement?
International
Argentine elections see deepening polarisation
Wales
Wales: The Labour-Plaid Cymru agreement - jam tomorrow, maybe
Rural life
Behind the rural idyll - the problems of everyday life
Workplace news
NHS workers - vote yes for action to win a decent pay rise
Staff and students unite against university bosses' attacks
Education unions lead campaign against Leicester academisation
RMT strikes against abolition of night tube train operators
South Yorkshire Stagecoach drivers strike against measly 1% pay offer
Nottingham and Mansfield trade unions rally against cuts and for better pay
Oaks Park school strike ends following forced concessions
Campaigns
East London mass non-payment wins housing victory
Marching to stop violence against women
Housing campaigners protest CEO champagners
Building a political alternative to Tory and Labour cuts
Stop the cuts to Uni arts funding
Plymouth: Hundreds attend vigil for Bobbi-Anne McLeod
Socialism 2021: How we reached our fighting fund appeal target
Readers' opinion
TV review: Valley of the Tears
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