Activists attended the picket lines at Queens Road Depot in north Manchester to show solidarity with Go North West bus drivers, as Unite the Union announced new leverage campaign aimed at increasing pressure on Go Ahead Group to return to the negotiating table.
Andy Burnham slams Go North West bosses, promising that bus franchising will be ‘no race to the bottom’
Fire and re-hire has no place in Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham said. Standing for re-election as Greater Manchester Mayor, on Wednesday he slammed the bosses of Go North West, currently in a ‘fire and re-hire’ dispute with bus drivers. Mayor Andy Burnham said: “I do not believe that the way in which this has been […]
Burnham brings GM bus network back under public control
The metro mayor said the “deregulated” bus network had “not been driven by the needs of our communities, but by bus operators’ responsibilities to their shareholders to make a profit… We can only change that and hold the decline if we bring the buses back under the control of the public.”
Greater Manchester leaders back bringing buses under public control
“On balance, it is in the public interest to make the proposed franchising scheme,” TfGM chief executive Eamonn Boylan told GM council leaders, as they gave the green light on re-franchising the city region’s buses.
Andy Burnham will now make the final decision on introducing a London-style franchise system.
Greater Manchester, with over £1bn in stock, has largest pension fund fossil fuel investment in UK
Greater Manchester Pension Fund is the biggest investor by far in fossil fuels of any local government pension scheme in the country. Environmental groups are calling on GMPF to divest from fossil fuels, to help tackle the climate emergency.
Burnham brands ‘fire and rehire’ practices ‘industrial blackmail’
Andy Burnham met Go North West bosses last week to discuss service disruption.
While careful to distinguish the industrial dispute between GNW and its drivers from other instances of ‘fire and rehire’ practices, the mayor says issuing Section 188 notices to renegotiate workers’ employment contracts is tantamount to ‘industrial blackmail’.
Manchester bus drivers poised to ballot on strike action as Unite and Go North West talks collapse
Unite will ballot 485 bus drivers on strike action if Go North West does not return to the negotiating table. The decision to consider balloting was made in response to the bus company announcing it will no longer negotiate with the union and will instead consult drivers individually.
Burnham urged to act against government’s proposed planning system changes
Open letter calls on Andy Burnham, and the leaders of the conurbation’s ten boroughs, to “intervene” in the government’s plans to change the UK planning system, which the campaigners call an “emergency for communities and local authorities across England.”
Pressure grows on Andy Burnham to scrap plans for school-based police officers
Deputy metro mayor Beverley Hughes insists SBPOs will create “positive relationships between young people and the police”. Campaigners say police presence in schools causes “harm”, urging the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to “divest from penal approaches”.
Greater Manchester to proceed with franchising bus network
Bringing buses under public control is ‘better value for money’ for the city region in spite of ‘severe’ impact of Covid-19 on bus patronage and revenues, Greater Manchester leaders hear at a meeting this week.