- Bus companies instructed to pay all staff London Living Wage immediately
- Action demanded after Unite union helped discover that some trainees were not receiving the wage – in breach of bus company contracts
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has demanded that all bus companies working with Transport for London immediately ensure all of their staff are paid the London Living Wage after it was discovered that some trainee drivers were not receiving it.
Every bus company is being ordered to guarantee that they pay their staff the wage after the Unite union helped to discover that some drivers in training were not being paid the full amount – directly in breach of their contractual obligations.
It was discovered that a number of the trainee drivers were actually being paid less than the wage of £9.75 an hour by their bus company, and then given a bonus when they qualified to drive the routes.
The number of trainees affected is likely to be several hundred. Some 2,500 people have been through six-week driver training courses in the last 12 months.
The Mayor and TfL are furious that this practice has been going on, and are demanding that any company involved puts this right immediately. It is a contractual requirement that these trainee drivers are paid at least the London Living Wage, and the companies must act now.
Last year, the Mayor announced an increase in the London Living Wage from £9.40 to £9.75 to help London workers. He also secured a fairer system for bus drivers’ pay to ensure consistency for drivers working across all of London’s bus companies and a new starter driver minimum wage of £23,000.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m absolutely furious if even a single trainee bus driver is still being paid below London’s Living Wage. We’ve worked hard to ensure drivers are treated fairly and get the pay they deserve, so to hear that any company may have broken their contractual obligations is completely unacceptable. I thank the Unite union for helping to bring this to my attention and I expect this to be put right immediately.”
Claire Mann, TfL’s Director of Bus Service Delivery & Operations, said: "Payment of the London Living Wage (LLW) has been a contractual requirement for all bus companies operating in London for some time. We expect the LLW to be paid to all of their staff, including trainee bus drivers. We have contacted all of the companies involved to remind them of this and seek urgent clarification that this is being adhered to.”