First Glasgow engineers to vote on strike action

Unite the Union members are set to ballot members over strike action after talks with First Bus broke down this evening.

In a long running dispute with First Glasgow, around 180 craft and engineering workers in all Glasgow depots are set to undertake an industrial action ballot over holiday pay.

The dispute relates to the failure of company management to implement a national framework agreement signed in 2015.

The pay rise element of the original dispute was settled in July after acceptance of a 3 per cent pay award in 2018 and 2.5 per cent in 2019 after a consultative ballot.

Unite and First Glasgow agreed to work towards a settlement on the outstanding issue of holiday pay following the pay award but company management have stated an unwillingness to retrospectively apply the minimum standard Divisional Holiday Pay Framework Agreement from 2015.

Unite regional officer Pat McIlvogue said: “The double standards and deceit displayed by First Glasgow is scandalous. In good faith, and at Unite’s suggestion, we agreed to further discussions with the company through ACAS after the pay element was resolved only for the company to behave in this manner.”

“Unite engineering members are being treated as second class despite a minimum standard framework agreement signed by company directors Giles Fearnley & Dave Alexander in 2015 stating all workers should be treated the same. The company is in our opinion operating outside the law on holiday pay and their own agreement which is a position that will be robustly challenged both industrially and legally by Unite.”

Andrew Jarvis, Managing Director of First Glasgow said: “After a series of talks with our Unite trade union colleagues facilitated by ACAS, we regret to advise that despite considerable movement on the established positions of both sides, we have been unable to reach a collective agreement on a revised position on the level of holiday pay paid by the Company.

“The Company’s final offer was above the level prescribed by recent case law surrounding changes to holiday pay calculations. There have been considerable developments in case law in the last three years which were fully satisfied by our final offer to the union. We are clearly disappointed by this failure to reach an agreement, but remain available for further talks as we seek to conclude the issue.