Bus strike in London over £500 work bonus during London 2012 Olympic Games
London is experiencing a bus strike of thousands of workers over the issue of payment of bonus for working during the London 2012 Olympic Games. The strike has crippled public transport in the capital of England to a significant extent.
The strike is planned to last for a period of 24 hours in which a staggering amount of an estimated 85 % of the total workforce will participate. According to the Transport for London, the percentage of operational bus services in the city after the strike
is 24 %.
The huge strike has resulted because the demand of a £500 work bonus for working during the London 2012 Olympic Games, starting from July 27, has not yet been met. The strike is being staged by the members of Unite which work at a total of 17 bus companies
in London.
Peter Hendy, who is the transport commissioner of London, expressed himself on the matter in the following words, “It is...for the bus companies and Unite to resolve this dispute. Given their inability to do so, the Mayor obtained - unprecedentedly - £8.3
million from the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).This would allow every bus driver in London...to gain...about £500. As I understand it, the bus companies made three offers to supplement this with more of their own money, but the Unite leadership have refused
to budge from their position of £500 after tax for everybody.”
Of the 17 companies whose employees have gone on strike, three were given an injunction by the High Court that stopped their employees who are also members of Unite, to go on a strike. These three companies were Arriva, Metroline and London General. However,
the injunction did not prevent the employees of the three companies from coming out for the strike.
Unite is demanding an additional amount of £6 million from the bus operators, the Olympic Delivery Authority and TfL.
The number of local residents and tourists affected by the strike are significant as the entire bus network of London enables an estimated amount of 6 million passengers to commute on any given weekday.
There is a hint of suggestion that the strike might also take place during the Olympic Games if demands are not met.
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