UNITE’S new coordinated bus campaign is “leading the way in driving up pay and working conditions as a new unionism sweeps transport industries across Britain,” Sharon Graham said yesterday.

The general secretary, elected leader of the union in August 2021, said the Bus Combine initiative is part of her focus on “jobs, pay and conditions” across various sectors nationwide.

The strategy brings Unite reps together from across the transport industry to coordinate their fights to boost wages and improve working conditions.

The approach includes coordinating salary campaigns and setting new standards on common issues, such as temperature limits in drivers’ cabs.

Ms Graham said: “Unite is now turning towards what it says on the trade union tin: fighting for jobs, pay and conditions.

“That is now beginning to deliver for our members in dispute after dispute. It looks like we’ve rung the bell on the buses.”

The union leader noted that the number of bus strikes has skyrocketed from just 11 in 2019 to 102 during her time in charge.

Notable disputes include a walkout by 250 Stagecoach workers in Hull, which ended earlier this month after workers accepted a two-year pay deal worth a whopping 20 per cent.

And in August, after 29 days of walkouts, over 2,000 Arriva North West members backed a deal worth an extra £2,900 a year.

Ms Graham added: “Bus workers have led the way, setting new standards for pay and raising the rate for the job.

“Union solidarity delivers results — bus workers, along with transport workers across the UK, have been winning more pay and better conditions in their workplaces.

“We’ve won on wages, we’ve won on conditions, we’ve won on standards. From working hours to working in extreme temperatures, Unite’s commitment to take our union back to the workplace is paying off.”

She also hailed the union-led campaigns which saw Transport for London (TfL) bosses forced to abandon most of their plans to cut bus routes across the capital.

Nearly every saved service is in an area where Unite workers linked up with concerned residents in local communities to resist attacks on the vital routes.  

Ms Graham said the “obvious connection” between the fightback and those services now protected exemplifies the union’s “campaign in local communities to build local groups for a workers’ economy.”

She slammed the fact that 22 per cent of the cuts are still going ahead, but stressed: “What is beyond doubt is that the highly motivated campaigns led by bus workers and local communities had an enormous effect and forced TfL to rethink much of its cuts agenda.”