Bus strike settlement settles nothing

Bus drivers at Arriva North London went on strike for several days in late August. Despite coming at the end of the summer, this strike was significant as it represented one of the only attempts by workers to fight for better conditions in response to the murderous heatwaves.

Unfortunately, the great anger and militancy of these drivers were undercut by the union leadership. The strike ballot was only held in July, and the strike was not called till the end of summer. No clear demands were made to rally the drivers around. Mechanics and cleaners, also in Unite, were not called out on strike. The strike was a few days a week, not an all-out battle. After the first week, the strike was called off to vote on a sell-out proposal, and only resumed when it was, rightfully, rejected.

As a result, from day one Arriva was able to put some buses on the road, and the volume increased as the strike went on. In this way, the leadership of Unite was able to push through a deal that promised Arriva would install driver (but not passenger) air conditioning. Crucially, it still forces drivers to take the bus out if it isn’t working! Drivers already know that once they are on the road, away from other drivers and their union rep, they are at the mercy of controllers and charge hands to keep driving. No bus should leave the garage without working heat or air con!

We print below a leaflet titled “London bus drivers: Make the bosses feel the heat” issued at the outset of the strike by the Committee for a Fighting Transport Union, which we welcomed and helped distribute.

It is a good thing that Unite has declared a strike at Arriva North London over deadly heat on the buses. It’s a shame that summer is already ending and the strike isn’t London wide. Nothing can now be done about the first part, but we must fix the second. If this strike is going to be about more than blowing off steam, there must be a clear demand and a way to make all the operators bow to it.

1) Demand an agreement, from all bus companies, that no bus will go on the road without working air conditioning and heating. The union’s policy of leaving it up to individual drivers to refuse a bus or take a break has only led to victimisation and intimidation of union members. This strike must impose our safety on the bus companies backed by the entire strength of the union. We cannot accept promises of future improvements without that guarantee. We must reject any compromise on our health and safety now or it’s a set-up for more victimisation down the road.

2) Call out every union member. Balloting drivers, but not engineers and cleaners, who are also in Unite, pits union members against each other and weakens the strike. If the buses aren’t getting cleaned and fixed during the strike it will extend the strike’s impact. Go to your union brothers and sisters to make the case that these are their working conditions too and bring them out to the picket line!

3) Ballot all of London now. Sharon Graham has now said she may call a city-wide ballot. Good, do it! Because let’s be clear, we don’t need posturing intended to get Burnham and Khan to sit down and make meaningless promises of future bills. We need a city-wide strike to make all the bus operators take our safety seriously now. To get that we need to put pressure on our union leaders to immediately ballot every London bus worker.

Committee for a Fighting Transport Union: 07907 329 659

𝕏 @MakeUniteFight • fightingtransportunion@gmail.com