Thousands of London drivers have threatened industrial action unless they get a £500 bonus to recognise the “massive increase” in workload during the Games.
More than 20,000 bus workers from London’s 15 private sector firms were asked to take part in a strike ballot. Unite union officials say they expect “overwhelming support” for the action, which could last for 24 or 48 hours.
Peter Kavanagh, Unite regional secretary for London, said he thought the public “believe bus workers deserve an award for keeping London moving during the Games”. He said it was “astonishing that bus operators are still doing zero to resolve this dispute and Transport for London is refusing to get involved”.
London’s transport system is forecast to carry an extra three million passengers a day during the Olympics on top of the 12 million journeys already made.
Other transport workers involved with the Games are to get bonuses between £500 and £2,000 plus. Leon Daniels, TfL’s managing director for surface transport, said extra hours were always covered by overtime pay.
