Following a series of strikes, the Welsh Government says bus franchising will safeguard workers’ pay and conditions. Rhodri Clark reports

 
Ebbw Vale’s deserted bus station during this month’s strike by some Stagecoach employees

 
The Welsh Government says that future bus franchises will safeguard workers’ conditions and ensure staff are well paid.

Legislation to enable franchising in Wales was shelved last year because of Covid-19 and lack of time before the May 2021 election, but the Labour government is due to issue a new White Paper on bus reform early next year.

The subject arose in the Senedd this month when MSs referred to the disruption when members of the Unite union at Stagecoach South Wales and Arriva Buses Wales took strike action in disputes over pay.

We need to make sure as we move to franchising that workers’ conditions are safeguarded and the desire for a quick commercial profit is not put ahead of the rights and needs of a well-paid and qualified workforce to serve the needs of passengers

On November 10, deputy climate change minister Lee Waters said: “We need to make sure as we move to franchising that workers’ conditions are safeguarded and the desire for a quick commercial profit is not put ahead of the rights and needs of a well-paid and qualified workforce to serve the needs of passengers.”

A week later, a Plaid Cymru MS said bus drivers were key workers who deserved a better deal, and it was time to bring bus services back into public hands.
A Conservative MS applauded his comments. Arriva drivers were still on strike at the time.

Waters responded: “There is a patchwork of arrangements in Wales because it is a commercial market, a commercial market deliberately set up by the Conservatives under bus privatisation.

“The drivers from Arriva are generally among the better paid in Wales at the moment, better paid than those in Stagecoach, where there has been a dispute recently, but they’re not as well paid as those across the border in Merseyside.

“So these are complex commercial matters, but I can absolutely give the commitment that we want to see consistency across Wales, both of service provision, of timetable provision and of terms and conditions for staff. And that is something we very much will be designing into the bus White Paper that we’re working on currently and will be introducing in the New Year.”

It sounds as if franchising is happening, although nobody has told the industry or local authorities.

Bev Fowles, vice-chair of the Coach and Bus Association Cymru, said: “It’s very interesting that he has reintroduced the ‘f’ word again. Franchising has been under the table for a considerable time now, on the basis that it frightens everybody. It sounds as if franchising is happening, although nobody has told the industry or local authorities.”

Existing terms and conditions would be protected by TUPE for any employees who transferred to a franchised operator, said Fowles, who worked for First within London’s franchised bus network in the 1990s.

He thought Waters’ comments could be an indicator that the Welsh Government has accepted that bus services need more funding. In the past decade the government has cut its grant funding to operators and subsequently frozen the total at £25m per annum, despite the inflationary increases in operators’ costs.

I don’t like his use of the franchising word because it sets hares running, but I can see where he’s coming from as far as quality is concerned, not only for staff but for everybody, and that gives the customer a better deal

“I think he understands that quality costs money,” said Fowles. “I don’t like his use of the franchising word because it sets hares running, but I can see where he’s coming from as far as quality is concerned, not only for staff but for everybody, and that gives the customer a better deal.”

He hoped that in future, society would value bus drivers more highly. “These guys go out every day and do a sterling job despite the intolerance of motorists, let alone passengers’ intolerance. People think ‘He’s just a driver’ but I’m sorry, he’s more than that. Drivers do a hugely responsible job.”

 
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.

DON’T MISS OUT – GET YOUR COPY! – click here to subscribe!