There was a mood of determination and defiance as up to 500 London bus workers took to the streets earlier today to demand an equal and higher rate of pay across the city.
Workers in the Unite union at several of the major companies in London have resoundingly rejected recent offers. Several more are set to ballot in the next month.
The bus workers marched to City Hall to deliver a message to the London mayor Boris Johnson that drivers will no longer put up with low pay or with people being paid vastly different rates for the same job.
As the bus workers gathered outside city hall at the end of the march, the most popular chant was, “Strike, strike!”
Brian, a driver at London United in East London told Socialist Worker, “Equality is important – it is an injustice that drivers are paid different rates at different companies.
“There is a real mood for a fight over pay. I hope we are going to see strikes across the city.
“People have had enough. The cost of living has gone up so much – we have to make a stand.”
There will be a longer report from the demonstration in the next issue of Socialist Worker
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