Sebastian Payne

Today’s strikes in London highlight why we need trade union reforms

Londoners were not a happy bunch this morning. Aside from the cold, wet weather, two-thirds of the capital’s buses were not running — thanks to a strike arranged by trade union Unite. Bus drivers are protesting over pay, as they believe the lack of a collective deal across all bus operators is unfair. Currently, there are 80-odd different pay rates, as this Unite infographic shows:

27,000 striking bus drivers causing traffic and commuting chaos is annoying — but this strike comes at a sensitive time as the Tories are hoping to clamp down on strikes. According to Transport for London, less than 16 per cent of the city’s bus drivers voted for today’s strike.

There is a chance if you were reading this in 2016, the bus strike might not be happening at all. The

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