Bee Network bus drivers to strike for three days from 19 September.

 

Andy Burnham

The Bee Network in Greater Manchester seems to be beleaguered with problems.

Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester promised the people of Greater Manchester a London-style bus network. We've seen buses crashing into one another or crashing into bridges. Only recently upstairs passengers on a double decker bus in Eccles, were nearly decapitated, when the driver tried to get under a bridge that wasn't high enough. Passengers in Greater Manchester now face the prospect of no buses from Friday 19 September to Monday 22 September in a coordinated strike over pay, when two thousand drivers will walk out.

This action will obviously have most impact on people who don't drive or own a car and rely on public transport to get about.  All the drivers are members of Unite the Union. Although the Bee Network has been brought back under local authority control, it doesn't employ the drivers or negotiate their wages. Many of these drivers will be employed by First or Stagecoach. As most of the buses are now part of the Bee Network, Burnham has created a monopoly which means that alternative public bus transport will be severely limited or not available to the general public.