Plaid Cymru Members of the Senedd have welcomed the end of strike action in Gwent by bus drivers after their employers relented and met demand for a pay rise.
An estimated 200 drivers at Stagecoach depots in Cwmbran, Brynmawr and Blackwood walked out 17 days ago in a bid to increase their hourly rate from £9.50 to £10.50.
“This is fantastic news,” said Peredur Owen Griffiths MS, who represents South Wales East. “The drivers were only asking for a modest pay rise. They were forced into taking strike action due to a stubborn company management who were only too happy to pay what drivers in Wales were asking for and more just over the border for their drivers in Bristol.
“Had the Stagecoach management met the sensible requests of the workforce in the first place then a lot of anguish and hardship would have been prevented for staff and passengers who have had to seek alternative transport for more than a fortnight.
“I hope lessons are now being learnt by senior management at Stagecoach and that they start to repair some of the damage they have done to relations with their workforce.”
Delyth Jewell MS, who also represents South Wales East, said: “This has been a long-drawn out dispute but I’m delighted that drivers have finally got what they wanted. Their demands were reasonable despite what senior management of Stagecoach claimed.
“Many constituents – especially without their own transport - were hampered during the industrial action of the last 17 days so I am relieved for them as well as the bus drivers that this dispute has finally come to an end.
“It’s a real victory for common sense, people power and trade union solidarity.”
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