At First Group's Queens Road depot here union members explained that their dispute, which has now been going on for two months, is over pay and working conditions, and in particular against the two-tier wage system that currently exists for drivers.

Since First Group took over bus services in North Manchester in July, the company has introduced what is known as the Separate Operating Unit. While established drivers earn £6.60 per hour (£1=US$1.41), workers hired under the new conditions start at £5.09 per hour and never reach the top rate. The 1,750 TGWU members are demanding that wages for new hires increase over five years to reach the standard rate.

"First Group made £151 million profit last year, and we are the ones that made it, and this is what we get for it," said a picket who asked that his name not be published to avoid reprisals by the company.

Several workers pointed out how one of the bosses locked the workers out of the depot on strike days, making it impossible to get to the union office. The company is videotaping pickets in all depots, and also videotaping people absent due to sickness.

The company sent workers a letter a few weeks ago threatening 60 days notice of termination of contract, on one hand, and a new offer of a 4.5 percent wage increase, on the other. The workers voted 96 percent to reject the new offer. A couple of bus strikers explained that it would actually increase the gap between the wages of workers under the new conditions and those of higher-seniority workers.

Another striker said, "They are taking this country back to the days of Dickens." Pointing to another worker, he said," My colleague and I have been in every dispute for the last 22 years and they are trying to push us back to what we had before." Noting that they had previously won a 38-hour workweek, he added, "They are trying to push our hours back up."

At Ribble, striking bus workers are demanding a pay raise from £5.23 per hour to £5.50 per hour. One striker explained that when state-run bus lines were privatized several years ago the bosses initially introduced "profit-related pay." Later they took it away and drivers lost around £20 of their weekly income.

"Stagecoach Group works as one group," the same striker explained, "but when it comes to pay and conditions they operate as separate groups." In Manchester, bus drivers for Stagecoach get £6.60 per hour.

Since privatization, bus strikers at Ribble have lost overtime rates and bank holiday (national holiday) rates. One striker commented, "It doesn't matter whether you work 38 hours or 100 hours--our pay is always £5.23 per hour." These premium rates were also eliminated for the First Bus workers in Manchester.

Strikers at Ribble said the bosses forced a reballot under the guise of a different offer that amounted to the same terms. But 82 percent of the workers voted to continue the strike. "There are also a number of nonunion workers here but they are supporting the strike," a picket reported.

The strikers in Manchester and Preston have been visited by other workers keen to extend solidarity. Mike, a worker from an engineering factory in Manchester, commented on his visit to the picket line, "It's hardly surprising that the bus workers have had to go on strike given how they are being treated."

Workers also report they have received broad support from working people who rely on bus service.

Julie Crawford is a member of the National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers. Paul Galloway is a member of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union.