A UNION spokesman said he was sorry to be planning a new wave of bus strikes with his members – but added he could not rule out the possibility of an all-out strike.
He made the comments before a meeting yesterday (Wednesday) to set new year strike dates for January, February and March.
Bobby Morton, UNITE’s national officer for passenger transport added the matter could be solved by a referral to arbitration.
He said the Bus Vannin management and representatives of the Department of Community Culture and Leisure (DCCL) which is in charge of the buses should agree to a binding face-to-face arbitration to avoid more strikes.
‘It is with great sadness that plans for a new wave of strike action are being put in place today, particularly when there is a logical common sense way to end this protracted dispute,’ he said.
‘I appeal yet again to Nick Black, the department’s chief executive and the DCCL to refer this matter to a third party for binding arbitration.
‘This would be the fairest way to resolve the problem and avoid triggering further disruption to the general public on the Isle of Man.’
He said not only did he expect there to be more strikes but he also anticipated an escalation of the action, adding the union had a £25m ‘war chest’ which had been made available.
‘That means we will be supporting the drivers on a monetary basis,’ he said.
‘It is their [the bus drivers’] decision but they may even decide on an outright stoppage.’
He added there was a standard strike payment of £30 per day.
‘However because of the importance of the dispute I have licence to add to that if I wish – and I do wish at the moment,’ he said.
Mr Morton also said the union felt ‘very strongly’ its own side of the dispute was not coming across in the media. He said he felt the government put pressure on the media and as a result he thought the government’s side of the dispute had been much more fully aired at the expense of the union’s position.
The bus dispute began last year after the DCCL said the bus operating budget had to be cut by £300,000, despite the island being recession-free. This led in turn to the drivers’ contracts being terminated and new contracts imposed, cutting drivers’ wages by up to £3,000 per year.
The first of the planned strikes took place for three days in the run up to Christmas on Thursday to Saturday December 20 to 22 after talks aimed at finding a resolution broke down.
On that occasion train services using a temporary platform at School Hill, and tram services ran alongside a reduced bus service to ensure children were able to get to school.
The drivers are also objecting to proposals to increase their driving time and reduce their contractual hours from 42 to 37.
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