First Manchester announces £5,200 pay offer to Oldham drivers
- 15.6% inflation-busting increase
- Pay backdated to April
Bus drivers at First Manchester in Oldham are set for an inflation-busting pay rise of more than £5,200 a year, if they accept a new offer made by the company.
First Manchester has made an improved offer that means a pay increase to £15 per hour backdated to April and a further rise to £15.60 from October, with no strings attached.
Overall, this represents a 15.6% increase in pay over the period, double the latest rate of inflation at 7.9%.
Rob Hughes, Operations Director of First Manchester, said: “We have made an improvement to our offer in an attempt to end this dispute and have asked Unite to ballot our drivers.
“This clearly answers the hourly pay rate request made by Unite and is well ahead of inflation. It will make our drivers some of the best-paid in Greater Manchester together with additional employment benefits.”
If a vote to accept the offer is made, drivers will receive backdated pay to April of some £1,000. It also means an annual pay increase of more than £5,200 for a driver with over one years’ service.
Rob Hughes added; “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.
““Continued industrial action is damaging to everyone and causes yet more severe disruption to the daily lives of our customers who rely on the bus to get to work, education and for appointments.”
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Notes to editors
Media enquiries to Richard Harrison, PR Manager, First Bus North of England richard.m.harrison@firstbus.co.uk 07973 668116.
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Notes to editors 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 a division of FirstGroup. First Bus is an equal opportunity employer |