First Bus statement on acceptance of pay offer in Unite ballot of Oldham drivers
- Rise in hourly pay to £15.50 immediately and £16.00 from January
- £1,100 lump sum payment
- Overall increase in pay of 18.5%
First Bus has announced that a Unite ballot on Wednesday 6 September has accepted its latest pay offer to Oldham drivers.
It means bus drivers at First Manchester will receive a pay increase to £15.50 per hour from 3 September, a lump sum payment of £1,100 and a further rise to £16.00 per hour from January, with no strings attached.
The deal also includes improved pay for Bank Holiday working.
Overall, this represents an 18.5% increase in pay over the period, more than double the latest rate of inflation at 7.9%.
Rob Hughes, Operations Director of First Manchester, said:
“We are delighted to have reached agreement with Unite and acceptance of a generous offer which makes our drivers some of the best-paid in Greater Manchester together with additional employment benefits.
“This ends any further damaging strike action and the severe disruption this has caused to the daily lives of our customers who rely on the bus to get to work, education and for appointments.”
He added: “It is disappointing that it has taken six months to get an agreement with Unite after we began talks in February and made a series of no-strings offers which met its requests on hourly pay and have all been well-ahead of inflation.
“We have always approached pay talks with an open mind to try to resolve this dispute and move forward, allowing us to focus on the transition period to franchising and providing the people of Oldham with a great bus service.
“The whole team can now focus on continuing to deliver an excellent service throughout the communities we serve.”
Ends
Notes to editors
Media enquiries to Richard Harrison, PR Manager, First Bus North & West Yorkshire 07973 668116 richard.m.harrison@firstbus.co.uk
About First Bus
First Bus is one of the UK’s largest bus operators. Making journeys easier for our customers, we were the first national bus operator to accept contactless card payments across all of our services and our First Bus App is voted ‘best in class’ amongst UK bus operators. Our most recent investments are in new, state-of-the-art buses across our key networks.
We work proactively with our local authority partners, making a positive impact on air quality, tackling congestion and improving customer experience. We are focused on First Bus becoming a leader in the transition to a low-carbon future and are committed to operating a zero emission bus fleet by 2035; we have pledged not to purchase any new diesel buses after December 2022. We also operate the Aircoach network in Ireland.
First Bus is an equal opportunities employer and a division of FirstGroup.