Metrolink staff to strike over pay dispute

Posted on Thursday 5 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

It has been announced that members of the Unite working on Manchester Metrolink are planning to strike on Wednesday 11th February in an ongoing dispute over pay. RATP Dev Ltd – the operators at Metrolink – have been negotiating with the union since last May over pay and it is understood that a 3.5% deal over two years has been offered but this has been rejected by members. It would just so happen that 11th February sees a home match for Manchester United when a large number of passengers would be expected to travel on Metrolink to get to the game and Unite have admitted that the date of the strike has been timed deliberately. Talks will continue between the two sides over the next week to try and resolve the issue but if this is not possible it is likely that Metrolink services will be severely affected by the action.

This entry was posted in Manchester Metrolink. Bookmark the permalink.

9 Responses to Metrolink staff to strike over pay dispute

  1. Peter Watts says:
    Thursday 5 February 2015 at 19:20

    If the Unions think this is a good idea to paralyse the system on a very busy day (United’s opponent is Burnley), then all they end up doing is alienating the general public and push everyone towars road transport and in this case the bus shuttles from the city centre to Old Trafford. Certainly a lose – lose situation.

  2. Peter says:
    Thursday 5 February 2015 at 19:53

    There are a lot of people myself incudude who would be more than happy with 3.5percent payrise

  3. Daniel says:
    Saturday 7 February 2015 at 10:34

    Strikes are meant to point out just how valuable an asset the staff are to the company. As a colleague in the industry I certainly support these members right to take industrial action as they see fit.

  4. Peter Watts says:
    Sunday 8 February 2015 at 11:48

    As much as I agree with Daniel about the right to strike, I disagree with the fact that only 35% of Metrolink staff have voted to strike, so with a minority. Unite claims that “73,3% voted for a strike”, but as usual manipulate the figures.

    Metrolink staff = 694
    Unite Members = 440 (63,4%)
    Unite members who voted = 333 (75% turnout)
    Members voted yes = 244 (73,3% of voting members, but only 55% of Unite members, and only 35,1% of Metrolink employees)

    Surely a strike, specifically aimed by Unite’s own confession, to cause maxilum disruption should be decided by a majority of employees and not a minority?

    • Ken Walker says:
      Sunday 8 February 2015 at 17:50

      By the same argument the last 4 or 5 governments should not have got in, and the damage they have done is far greater than a 1-day strike on the trams!

      • Nigel Pennick says:
        Monday 9 February 2015 at 17:38

        Every person is an individual, with their own personal and family concerns, so some employees will be hit harder than others when pay falls behind prices. As everyone loses by a strike, especially the workers, with their loss of necessary income, strikes benefit nobody, but are usually the result of desperation by a significant proportion of the employees. It is no fun to be out on strike when one has a family to support. I know. Hopefully the union and management will come to a mutual agreement before the trams stop running.

        • Ken Walker says:
          Tuesday 10 February 2015 at 11:45

          The staff must consider they have a sufficiently strong grievance if they are prepared to lose pay by striking. Many of these disputes have other causes besides the stated one such as lack of trust in management. As is the norm we outsiders won’t get to know the true facts, but I can’t see this strike being purely about pay. Unfortunately since the working class were deserted and betrayed by the political party that they themselves created to protect their interests this is the only way they have of making themselves heard. One thing that has always puzzled me: the fact that so much chaos ensues when workers go on a ‘work to rule’: how much does this say about the way management expect their staff to cut corners (bend the rules which are there for a reason, partly for safety reasons) to save money in normal day-to-day working?

  5. a sutherland says:
    Monday 9 February 2015 at 20:04

    3.5% is an extremely good pay increase even over two years. I am a local government employee and we’ve just been offered 2.2% over two years therefore I think they are being a bit greedy. In this day and age 3.5% is fantastic and they should accept. Going on strike on a work day and a match day will really alienate the public who will not have a great deal of sympathy if they can’t get to work.

    • Steve Hyde says:
      Monday 9 February 2015 at 21:00

      TfGM and Metrolink have released a Tweet announcing that Wednesday’s strike is off following further talks involving ACAS.

Comments are closed.