I will be interviewed on BBC5 Live tonight at around 10.05pm concerning this story.
London bus drivers were today accused of holding passengers to ransom as they threatened to strike during next summer’s Olympic Games unless they get a £500 bonus. The 28,000 staff claim they need the money just for turning up to work – because their buses will be so busy. But Boris Johnson today accused transport workers of money-grabbing and asked their Unite union to back down. The claim would slap a £14 million bill on passengers and taxpayers. It is the latest of several demands – totalling nearly £30 million – by transport staff to work during the three-week Games.
Unison’s Peter Kavanagh, the comrade demaning all this extra cash, will be up against me. My view is that if UNISON bus rivers find the prospect of serving the British public and tourists so onerous, they should go and find alternative employment, with almost 250,000 people in London looking for a job.
Have you any thoughts you would like to share with me on this topic?