Andy Burnham slams TfGM strikes as 'unnecessary' and 'unjustified'

Andy Burnham has condemned planned strikes by Transport for Greater Manchester employees over the festive period. The Mayor of Greater Manchester added that TFGM services will continue to run despite the planned action.

In a statement, Mr Burnham slammed the planned strikes as "unjustified" and "unnecessary". The strikes have been called in an ongoing dispute over pay at TFGM.

Office based workers and frontline transport workers at ticket offices plan to strike between Thursday December 12 and Sunday December 15. Bus and tram drivers will not be included in the planned action, with it including customer contact, ticket offices, information, office roles, and interchanges.

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The latest offer to staff has been to increase this year's pay by up to 9.5 percent for people who earn the least. Meanwhile those who earn more than £51,000 will receive a rise of 2.5 percent in line with the settlement for staff at local authorities.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “With several revised and improved pay offers made to staff, this strike action is now primarily about giving more money to those already earning more than £50,000. We believe that a 2.5% rise for those high earners is fair, which is why we’ve weighted the offer to give the biggest rises to those on the lowest pay.

“Whilst unions in the other transport authorities have accepted the deal, unions in Greater Manchester are still refusing to even put the offer to a member ballot. The planned action is unnecessary, unjustified and comes at a critical time when we’re readying to launch Bee Network buses across the remainder of Greater Manchester in January.

“Despite the action, the Bee Network will continue to run.”

Steve Warrener, Managing Director at Transport for the Greater Manchester, said that talks are ongoing. These are being conducted with the Unite and Unison unions.

“It’s a really busy time of the year and we’re determined to keep the Bee Network going. People will still be able get around, support local businesses and visit loved ones," said Mr Warrener.

“We’ve been working hard behind the scenes and we’ll continue talks with union colleagues with the aim of getting to an agreement and minimising any inconvenience to passengers. In the meantime, we’re ploughing on with our preparation to launch Bee Network bus services across the rest of Greater Manchester on January 5, and have contingency plans in place to make sure that can still go ahead.”

Pay at TfGM is mad with the Passenger Transport Forum. This also works with the West Midlands Combined Authority and West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

TfGM told the Manchester Evening News that all staff are paid above the Real Living Wage. It added that services will run as normal, but encouraged passengers to plan their journeys in advance.