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First Drivers' Strike Goes Ahead Saturday


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The folk you ken are in the minority then - something like 70% of workers wanted to go out on strike

 

Onyway, I'm outta here, better get some work done noo....

Nope 70% of those who voted. Around 45% of members apparently didn't vote.

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The folk you ken are in the minority then - something like 70% of workers wanted to go out on strike

 

Onyway, I'm outta here, better get some work done noo....

 

 

The 70% is all employees who are in the union not drivers only though.

 

The drivers supporting strike less than 70%.

 

Never mind though, life goes on. :o

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Aye thought they may do. f**k them then. Its aright for the company to raise their prices above inflation all the time but when the workers ask for a pay rise they get made out to be money grabbing b*stards by the company. Hope the drivers get a pay rise noo. Obviously this strikes cause disruption etc. but it is all you can do when negotiations collapse.

 

they got a payrise 8 months ago

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A few points I've read about the strike is 70% voted for strike which is true, but out of about 500 ok to vote only 204 returned a vote, it pisses me off that guys moan like fook and dont vote,

also maintanance staff, cleaners and a few others are also included in this vote it's just the majority are drivers.

Yes a pay increase was awarded in Dec but unfortunately this was on going since April that year.

It's probably true that drivers earned some of the figures going but they did not earn it doing 38 hours a week more like 60 plus, if these guys didn't do overtime then well who would of drove the bus, our office staff used to get all moody when you turned down overtime saying things like "you must have plenty of money to turn it down" NO it's just we have lives to lead as well.

Some guys just like to work I suppose like any other job and when you have a big Polish contingent who love to work then they have no problem now, these guys if they were not here then First Aberdeen would have serious staff shortages.

What is happening now is that they have had a big recruitment drive and are now over staffed and normally when that happens sackings begin for anything the company can find to sack you if they want rid of you, overtime is now very limited and you can be reassured no driver will earn these salaries next year.

On a personal note I did vote for no strike action, maybe because I have friends who have been laid off and can see where the company are coming from, but on the other side they make such huge profits then everybody in First should benefit from it not just shareholders.

I had this woman make a dig at me the other day all you do is sit on your backside, well I suppose that's true but I've also tried to drive standing up and well it's a bit difficult.

On another note greed has been mentioned well today I heard Adebayor of Arsenal is "thinking"over only

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A fook i've rabbled on lang enough............ Farz ma Post are the Posties on strike the morn??????????

Aye some o them. Its only some postcodes in Edinburgh though, anyone ken why its only some?

 

I would like the bin men to stop striking though as oor full wheelie bin has been sat ootside for 2 weeks now I think

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Waited 40 minutes for a bus this morning. Waited an hour and a half this afternoon before phoning someone to get a lift home. Was pisses me off is that the bus company said I would get a bus every half hour, and that when I tried to call their help line I was on hold for 15 minutes and evenutally gave up.

 

Pathetic. Obviously the drivers were on strike, but the company promised me I was safe to wait at the bus stop when quite clearly I wasn't.

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Waited 40 minutes for a bus this morning. Waited an hour and a half this afternoon before phoning someone to get a lift home. Was pisses me off is that the bus company said I would get a bus every half hour, and that when I tried to call their help line I was on hold for 15 minutes and evenutally gave up.

 

Pathetic. Obviously the drivers were on strike, but the company promised me I was safe to wait at the bus stop when quite clearly I wasn't.

 

I was sensible and took the day off work. Had a nice lie in and then watched the golf, played some computer games and watched Motherwell game. My day has been pretty decent :sheepdance:

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A few points I've read about the strike is 70% voted for strike which is true, but out of about 500 ok to vote only 204 returned a vote, it pisses me off that guys moan like fook and dont vote,

also maintanance staff, cleaners and a few others are also included in this vote it's just the majority are drivers.

Yes a pay increase was awarded in Dec but unfortunately this was on going since April that year.

It's probably true that drivers earned some of the figures going but they did not earn it doing 38 hours a week more like 60 plus, if these guys didn't do overtime then well who would of drove the bus, our office staff used to get all moody when you turned down overtime saying things like "you must have plenty of money to turn it down" NO it's just we have lives to lead as well.

Some guys just like to work I suppose like any other job and when you have a big Polish contingent who love to work then they have no problem now, these guys if they were not here then First Aberdeen would have serious staff shortages.

What is happening now is that they have had a big recruitment drive and are now over staffed and normally when that happens sackings begin for anything the company can find to sack you if they want rid of you, overtime is now very limited and you can be reassured no driver will earn these salaries next year.

On a personal note I did vote for no strike action, maybe because I have friends who have been laid off and can see where the company are coming from, but on the other side they make such huge profits then everybody in First should benefit from it not just shareholders.

I had this woman make a dig at me the other day all you do is sit on your backside, well I suppose that's true but I've also tried to drive standing up and well it's a bit difficult.

On another note greed has been mentioned well today I heard Adebayor of Arsenal is "thinking"over only

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Credit to HITK for his post, it aint full of a one sided tale and credit to the geordie who managed to get me home

earlier than usual despite being a " bit unsure" about the route.

No doubt people will be disrupted during the "work to rule" but i hope First stay calm and continue to reject Tommy Campbell's

demands for peace because the losers will be the paying passengers when fares have to increase because if Aberdeen staff win

a pay award you can be sure the other cities where First are based will latch onto this.

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Credit to HITK for his post, it aint full of a one sided tale and credit to the geordie who managed to get me home

earlier than usual despite being a " bit unsure" about the route.

No doubt people will be disrupted during the "work to rule" but i hope First stay calm and continue to reject Tommy Campbell's

demands for peace because the losers will be the paying passengers when fares have to increase because if Aberdeen staff win

a pay award you can be sure the other cities where First are based will latch onto this.

 

Tommy, are you on the board or a shareholder at First group or something? do you really begrudge the drivers a 4% pay increase? - the ideal and sensible solution would be that they get their whopping 4% wage increase which would be funded oot of the profit the company is making (or perhaps the

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Tommy, are you on the board or a shareholder at First group or something? do you really begrudge the drivers a 4% pay increase? - the ideal and sensible solution would be that they get their whopping 4% wage increase which would be funded oot of the profit the company is making (or perhaps the
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Waited 40 minutes for a bus this morning. Waited an hour and a half this afternoon before phoning someone to get a lift home. Was pisses me off is that the bus company said I would get a bus every half hour, and that when I tried to call their help line I was on hold for 15 minutes and evenutally gave up.

 

Pathetic. Obviously the drivers were on strike, but the company promised me I was safe to wait at the bus stop when quite clearly I wasn't.

 

Dinna use the bus but the moans I hear from folk who do are:

 

1. Too expensive

2. Not nearly reliable enough

3. Too many moaning drivers who view passengers as an inconvenience.

 

Can any users confirm any of this?

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I'm perfectly happy for the bus drivers to get a 4% pay rise, it's just the way they've gone about it that's pissing me off. Striking should be an absolute last resort, only used when all other avenues have been exhausted. They're effectively using the people who rely on public transport as hostages and demanding a ransom. Many of the people who relay on public transport will have been told they won't be getting a pay rise this year, some may even have just been made redundant. So for bus drivers to strike over something insignificant like not getting another payrise during a recession, it's an abuse of their position. Striking willy nilly doesn't do anyone any good, especially those who need to strike later on because they have no other option.

 

If First had scrapped their pensions or told them to take paycuts, then I'd be right behind them, but we all want payrises, most of us can live without getting them. It's also a bit naive to expect pay to increase in line with the profits of the entire group. As far as I know, First Aberdeen is a company in its own right and any pay increases would be out of First Aberdeen's profits alone. I'm not sure exactly how profitable First Aberdeen is, and although they may have made a profit in the last financial year, trading will be a lot more difficult in this financial year, so they'll want to be a bit mroe prudent with their cash reserves to protect the future cash flow of the company.

 

This 'I didnae get a payrise so they shouldnae' attitude seems pretty prevalent in folks threads - pretty sure that the majority on here work for oil relelated companies, when oil prices are up and wage increases / bonuses are the norm does that mean the bus drivers get a pay increase / bonus in line with the majority of the city?, off course not as its a completely different market. (actually wouldnae surprise me if First have previously used the high fuel costs as a reason for increasing bus fares, decreasing wage increases in the past)

 

Same with this recession, unless theres mass redundancy in the city I would imagine that the amount of folk who actually use the buses wouldnae decrease - First are probably one of the few companies who are relatively secure in these credit crunching times, if fact it might even work in their advantage if folk decide that they cannae have the luxury of keeping their 2nd cars.

 

The reason they want to keep wages down is to keep profits up - its as simple as that.

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Tommy, are you on the board or a shareholder at First group or something? do you really begrudge the drivers a 4% pay increase? - the ideal and sensible solution would be that they get their whopping 4% wage increase which would be funded oot of the profit the company is making (or perhaps the
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This 'I didnae get a payrise so they shouldnae' attitude seems pretty prevalent in folks threads - pretty sure that the majority on here work for oil relelated companies, when oil prices are up and wage increases / bonuses are the norm does that mean the bus drivers get a pay increase / bonus in line with the majority of the city?, off course not as its a completely different market. (actually wouldnae surprise me if First have previously used the high fuel costs as a reason for increasing bus fares, decreasing wage increases in the past)

 

Same with this recession, unless theres mass redundancy in the city I would imagine that the amount of folk who actually use the buses wouldnae decrease - First are probably one of the few companies who are relatively secure in these credit crunching times, if fact it might even work in their advantage if folk decide that they cannae have the luxury of keeping their 2nd cars.

 

The reason they want to keep wages down is to keep profits up - its as simple as that.

 

It's not a case of they shouldn't get a payrise because no-one else is, it's more a case of they shouldn't strike to get a payrise when no-one else is getting payrises.

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Dinna use the bus but the moans I hear from folk who do are:

 

1. Too expensive

2. Not nearly reliable enough

3. Too many moaning drivers who view passengers as an inconvenience.

 

Can any users confirm any of this?

The fares are maybe expensive for some, the buses are reliable enough but the drivers on the whole are some of the most surly greetin faced twats you will meet anywhere, Ive worked all over Europe and find drivers there always willing to help, ask a driver in Aberdeen "does this bus go past somewhere ? " and you get a snappy answer for sure.

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The fares are maybe expensive for some, the buses are reliable enough but the drivers on the whole are some of the most surly greetin faced twats you will meet anywhere, Ive worked all over Europe and find drivers there always willing to help, ask a driver in Aberdeen "does this bus go past somewhere ? " and you get a snappy answer for sure.

 

 

 

In their defence, some drivers are decent people but there's a heck of a lot

who simply come across as resenting having to stop and pick up passengers.

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Dinna use the bus but the moans I hear from folk who do are:

 

1. Too expensive

2. Not nearly reliable enough

3. Too many moaning drivers who view passengers as an inconvenience.

 

Can any users confirm any of this?

1. Definitely

2. Seems timetables at certain times of day are impossible to keep and makes things shambles

3. Some yes but some are great

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One of the reasons that First is so successful is that they do not pander to unreasonable demands for wage increases. In the current climate with job layoffs, school leavers/graduates unable to find work and wage freezes across much of the private and public sector how can a 4% pay rise be deemed "an ideal and sensible solution", particularly as they had a rise last year as well and there is currently zero inflation, or even deflation, in the economy.

 

I don't begrudge anybody a sensible wage; howoever these bus drivers and their leaders, many of who have made thousands off the back of First Bus's success, have to realise that they don't work in the public sector anymore.

 

 

I do agree in these troubled times a more adult approach should be made by some of my fellow drivers when thousands are getting laid off and I for one am grateful I have a job, but the vote went for industrial action and as much as I dont want this I have to go with it as I wont cross a picket line and at the end of the day when this is over you still have to work with these guys.

I'm quite interested in your last quote where we have made thousands of First Bus success, I wonder how much millions First Bus have made at the expense of their staff and am not just talking about Aberdeen, remember it's the frontline staff who take in the money.

Somebody mentioned about affecting our pensions, pay cut,driving/working day etc well I have news for you guys our MD told our union rep that next year he is going to get these and it wont cost him a penny, so you heard it from me next year will be very interesting.

Do you remember all these years ago when our famous five directors who bought the company "For You" well these guys were able to buy millions of shares for 5p each and when floated on the stock market they started of at

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I do agree in these troubled times a more adult approach should be made by some of my fellow drivers when thousands are getting laid off and I for one am grateful I have a job, but the vote went for industrial action and as much as I dont want this I have to go with it as I wont cross a picket line and at the end of the day when this is over you still have to work with these guys.

I'm quite interested in your last quote where we have made thousands of First Bus success, I wonder how much millions First Bus have made at the expense of their staff and am not just talking about Aberdeen, remember it's the frontline staff who take in the money.

Somebody mentioned about affecting our pensions, pay cut,driving/working day etc well I have news for you guys our MD told our union rep that next year he is going to get these and it wont cost him a penny, so you heard it from me next year will be very interesting.

Do you remember all these years ago when our famous five directors who bought the company "For You" well these guys were able to buy millions of shares for 5p each and when floated on the stock market they started of at

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  • 8 years later...

 

Bosses at an Aberdeen bus firm say they are “extremely disappointed” that drivers have rejected a pay deal.

Unite the Union members were being balloted on the settlement, which was thrashed out with First Aberdeen following 10 days of strike action.
Of the 255 members balloted – an 80% turnout – 148 voted to reject the deal and 106 voted to accept.
Workers were asked to vote on the changes to contracts after a deal was struck in talks mediated by the Advisory, Conciliatory and Arbitration Service (ACAS).
The drivers’ decision means “indefinite” strike action could begin in the city as early as tomorrow.
David Phillips, operations director for First Aberdeen, described the vote outcome as “very concerning indeed”.
He said: “Firstly, we would like to begin by apologising to our customers for the ongoing disruption that further industrial action is likely to cause as we very much hoped to be getting our services back to normal.
“First Aberdeen are extremely disappointed by the news that Unite the Union members have voted to reject our final offer proposal on the revised terms and conditions.
“This agreement was reached with Unite the Union representatives via the ACAS collective conciliation talks, where management were extremely transparent about the precarious financial position that the company finds itself in.
“During these talks, we were absolutely clear that this was the best and final offer on the table despite the current reality of the situation facing the business in the city.
“We were willing to go to these extra lengths to get the city’s bus services back to normal and end the disruption, so to see this voted down via ballot is very concerning indeed.
“The company will now need to take some time to digest this result and to weigh up the next steps as the costs to the business and falling revenues we are currently enduring simply cannot be sustained.”
Willie Wallace, the full-time officer in Aberdeen’s Unite branch, said: “Our members have decided by a majority of three to two that the offer from First Bus was still not acceptable.
“We have to listen to that message.
“We’ve been in touch with First Bus, hopefully we can get back round the table as soon as. If that’s not the case, then the industrial action will resume tomorrow.”
Mr Wallace said more talks would take place before then and an agreement could be reached if people “focus on the issues in hand”.
When asked how he believed the public would respond, Mr Wallace said that they had always had a “sympathetic” response from customers, saying: “This action is not of our making, it’s based on First trying to impose changes on our members’ terms, and hopefully the public will understand that.
“Unite has been prepared to negotiate and make concessions. It’s not us who are unreasonable.
“It’s the intransigence of First Bus management which is, in effect, holding the people and businesses of Aberdeen to ransom.”

 

All out bus strike on Wed?

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