Caithness bus services face an autumn of disruption in Stagecoach ballot
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Highland bus services face an autumn of disruption if Stagecoach Group staff vote for industrial action over a pay dispute.
Union Unite is balloting 1500 workers in the transport across Scotland, including those based in Inverness and elsewhere in the Highlands and Islands, and include engineering staff, administrative workers, and cleaners, as well as drivers.
If the ballot for industrial action is successful then major bus routes, remote local communities and events are expected to be severely disrupted.
It would also involve disruption to the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow in November.
The ballots across the various Stagecoach Group companies opened yesterday. If members vote for industrial action, then strikes, and action short of strike, could begin by late October and into late January.
The Stagecoach Group, which operates in practice through various local bus companies, are offering below inflation pay offers to workers across Scotland. The Stagecoach Group has blamed the pay offers on the Covid pandemic.
However, Unite says that Stagecoach’s latest accounts reveal that the company made a profit of £58.4 million, and it has over £875 million of available liquidity.
Unite has demanded Stagecoach meet its fair pay claim of the Retail Price Index inflation figure (3.8 per cent - July) plus one per cent made by Unite.
Dougie Maguire, Unite regional coordinator, said: “Stagecoach’s stance has been nothing short of shocking, and it has infuriated the workforce who have continued to work diligently throughout the Covid pandemic. The Stagecoach Group is extremely profitable. It also directly benefits from millions of pounds of public funds every year through various Scottish Government schemes, not to mention benefiting from the UK Government’s furlough scheme for the last 18 months."
Unite has drawn attention to Stagecoach directly benefiting from several Scottish Government funding schemes. This includes £52 million through the annual public subsidy Bus Service Operators' Grant (BSOG), and £220 million from the National Concessionary Travel Scheme (NCTS).
The Stagecoach Group has also benefited from the Scottish Government’s Covid-19 Support Grant - Restart (CSG-R). The grant provides additional funding to support bus operators. The actual spend in 2020-21 is currently forecast at £120 million. On 8 September 2021, this grant was extended with up to £42 million in additional funding available from October 2021 to March 2022. The funding required for the 2021-22 financial year is forecast at £88.2 million.
In March, Stagecoach announced further plans for 46 new fully electric buses across Scotland, which will be supported with £9 million of Scottish Government funding under the Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme (SULEBS).
Mr Maguire continued: “If Stagecoach do not come to their senses, then many of the nation’s major bus routes will grind to a halt if our members vote for industrial action. Remote local communities and showcase events such as the COP26 climate change conference will be severely disrupted. This will be solely down to the Group’s point blank refusal to make our members a fair pay offer.
"The solution is simple: give our members the pay rise they deserve or face widespread industrial disruption.”
Stagecoach has been asked for comment
