In contrast to the pay disputes that are affecting some parts of the bus industry, Reading Buses has reached agreement with members of Unite the Union on an 8% uplift for cleaners, drivers, engineers and office staff in what the operator describes as “record time.”
The increase will be paid from October. It will take drivers’ basic remuneration to a claimed £33,000 per year, with further increments in place for antisocial hours. 500 employees at the Thames Valley operator will benefit from the rise.
Notably, Reading Buses says that negotiations on the uplift were completed “in less than a week,” against a more normal timeframe of months. It adds that completion now leaves the business able to focus management time on other matters.
Speaking about the deal, Chief Executive Officer Robert Williams says: “With inflation having been at such high levels, and our employees playing such a significant role in the community both now and during the pandemic, we felt it was right to reflect that as best we can with our annual pay review this year, and propose a deal that could not be refused.”
Unite the Union Branch Secretary Kevin Walters adds: “We are happy that the company has acknowledged that with rising costs and inflation, our members need security of a pay award that at the very least matches current inflation rates.
“By coming to the table with a good offer at the start, it has allowed us to get approval from our members in the first round of voting, which is exactly how it should be.”
The speedy agreement on pay at Reading Buses will be seen alongside events at other bus operators, where fractious negotiations have resulted in at least one multi-week strike and losses caused by a separate walkout that one large operator said measured into millions of pounds.
