Manchester Metrolink – and Bee Network bus services – will continue to operate as normal during a planned strike by staff employed by Transport for Greater Manchester and represented by the Unison and Unite unions. The strikes are due to start on Thursday 12th December.
The planned action does not include tram or bus drivers, but is TfGM staff in office-based roles and at interchanges, information and ticket offices, and in the customer contact centre. Services will be able to continue as normal and transport interchanges will remain open. However, some supporting facilities may be reduced including the ability to purchase some ticket products, toilets at interchanges may be closed, Travelshops will be closed meaning fewer staff will be available to help with journey information and it will take longer for queries to be responded to and social media channels will be updated more slowly than usual.
The strike centres over pay, with the latest offer from TfGM having been rejected. The latest offer was weighted to deliver the largest pay rise to those who are paid the least, with those who earn the most proposed to get the lowest uplift. All staff would get a raise in their 2024/5 pay, with all continuing to be paid above the Real Living Wage, which currently equates to a full-time salary of £23,088.
The latest offer means anyone paid below £27,800 (around 17% of TfGM staff) would get an average pay increase of between 8.2& and 9.5%. The sliding scale would have meant anyone earning between £27,800 and £51,000 would see an average rise of between 6.8% and 3.1% respectively. Anyone earning more would receive 2.5%.
Steve Warrener, Managing Director at TfGM, said: “The planned strikes do not affect drivers or any other bus or Metrolink staff. We’re reassuring passengers that their buses and trams will still run and we’ll keep Greater Manchester moving.
“Whilst there will naturally be some changes for passengers – including limited access to toilets and fewer people to provide information on strike days – we’ll be doing all we can to ensure such inconveniences are minimised.
“We’re still talking to union representatives and our focus is on reaching agreement and avoiding any industrial action, which could still be called off should they choose.
“We recognise the need to support our hard-working colleagues facing cost of living pressures. But we also need to balance this with the challenging financial situation in the public sector. We feel it’s right we focus our attention on giving the biggest rises to those who are paid the least, that’s how we’ve structured of pay offers to the unions which have to date been rejected.”