Unite says SPT ‘running on empty’ due to underpaid and overstretched system

Unite has confirmed that its Glasgow subway members have emphatically voted for strike action in a dispute over working conditions.

Unite members voted by 97.5 per cent for strike action with over 100 Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) workers set to take part in a series of 24-hour stoppages this summer.

The strike action is scheduled to take place on 21, 25, 27 and 28 June.

The disruption will mean the subway system will be closed on the Punk All Dayer festival featuring the Sex Pistols along with the Sting, Simple Minds and the Stereophonics gigs being held as part of the summer sessions at Bellahouston Park.

A continuous overtime ban will also be in place from 13 June.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s Glasgow subway members membership feel totally devalued and ignored. We will not tolerate our members being exhausted and underpaid. The subway system is running on empty.

 “SPT has had every opportunity to resolve the chronic issues that have resulted in this dispute but have chosen not to act.”

The dispute centres on the working conditions of the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) workers as Unite claims the subway system is ‘struggling’ to operate due to chronic understaffing.

Train drivers and station staff are routinely working up to 10 hours beyond contracted hours (39 hours) to keep the system operating without any improvements to the shift, overtime, and weekend allowances. Unite members are repeatedly called in to work shifts at short notice leading to significant work-life pressures. 

Andrew Brown Unite industrial officer said: “The strike action will cause major disruption across the subway system, but this is entirely the fault of SPT’s management which has continuously ignored the workers' concerns about being overstretched and understaffed.”

Unite has warned that unless there are improvements to the working conditions of the SPT members then strike action could escalate over the summer months.

ENDS

Notes to Editor 

For media enquiries please contact Andrew Brady on 07810157922.

Email andrew.brady@unitetheunion.org 

Unite Scotland is the country’s biggest and most diverse trade union with around 150,000 members. The union is led in Scotland by Derek Thomson.