Bus workers strike in protest at company’s “broken pay promise”

The strike action will be followed by a series of 48-hour discontinuous stoppages to limit production and deliveries accepted.

Unite, the union, said workers at the company, a subsidiary of Ashok Leyland, which is majority-owned by the billionaire Hinduja brothers, are paid below the industry standard.

Unite regional officer Richard Bedford said: “The decision to strike is never taken lightly, especially in the current climate, but our members have reached the end of their tether with Optare’s point-blank refusal to honour its word.”

But Optare, which is based at Sherburn-in-Elmet, said it had put in place contingency plans to maintain production and to deliver orders.

Throughout the Covid crisis, the firm has furloughed workers on 100 per cent of their pay while management took salary cuts.

Graham Belgum, chief executive, said: “A rolling programme of stoppages and strike action during the Covid pandemic whilst we prepare for the turnaround of Optare to put the business on a firm financial footing is unhelpful.

“Furthermore, by striking, our hard-working employees risk losing wages that we have preserved throughout the COVID lockdowns, at a time when we must continue to meet demand from our customers.

“This is a pivotal moment for Optare as we continue to invest in the future of the company to get through this extraordinary situation. Our parent company has supported this business over the past few years with more than £100m of investment and we must continue to weather this storm.

“We remain determined to continue to keep our workforce employed and safe and we retain a real willingness to continue to engage with the union and reach a potential solution.”

Unite, which is the UK and Ireland’s largest union, said Optare had refused to honour an August 2019 pledge to implement a pay rise by November of that year.

Unite’s Mr Bedford added: “Optare’s staff, who are paid well below industry standard, are loyal and put their all into the company. They are simply asking for a reasonable pay rise and have been pushed into taking this action because of Optare’s broken promises.

“The situation has been made worse because staff have agreed to defer pay negotiations on a number of occasions at the company’s request. Their good faith has been rewarded with the runaround resulting in a complete refusal to provide the promised pay increase.

“There is still time to avoid disruption to the business and Unite is calling on Optare to get back around the table to find a solution so that workers can get back to the job of making buses.”

Unite said 73 per cent of its 100 or more members had voted for strike action, but Optare said only 16 per cent of the whole organisation voted to stop work.