Unions put FirstGroup under scrutiny as Euro expansion beckons

29 January 2007

Transport unions from countries where FirstGroup plans to expand will meet with colleagues who already have experience of the company at the ITF in London on 31 January. Representatives from the UK and US will join their counterparts from Ireland, Germany, Sweden and The Netherlands to examine the international rail and bus operator’s record and plan how to avert the difficulties that have affected FirstGroup passengers and workers.

The meeting is expected to draw up a plan of action that includes creating a global network of transport unions whose members are employed by FirstGroup, and reaching out to shareholders, regulators, and politicians. It is expected to be the first in a series of meetings in the run up to the ITF's worldwide Road Transport Meeting in June 2007.

“We’re concerned that FirstGroup doesn’t repeat in the rest of Europe the mistakes it has made in the UK and US,” said Mac Urata, Secretary of the ITF’s Inland Transport Section.

FirstGroup is a possible bidder for Connexxion, a Dutch state-owned transport operator.  It is also considering purchasing Continental Auto in Spain and has bid with a partner, the Danish State rail operator, DSB, on a rail franchise linking Denmark and Sweden. It is also reportedly considering buying Laidlaw, a US firm that provides school and public transit services.

FirstGroup’s Record in the US and UK
According to the Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU), which represents bus workers across the UK, passengers in areas where FirstGroup enjoys near-monopoly status have experienced numerous service cuts and above-inflation fare increases. Decisions by FirstGroup managers have led to poor employee morale, high staff turnover and needless industrial disputes and conflicts.

In late December, 1,000 bus workers employed by FirstGroup in Leeds held a one day strike over the company’s attempt to devalue their pension benefits. Following the walk-out, FirstGroup further angered passengers by announcing a fares increase. In South Yorkshire, cuts in services sparked a grassroots movement in Sheffield, ‘We Want Our Buses Back’. The South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority passed a vote of no confidence in the company in November 2005 following fare rises and cuts in services.

In the USA, FirstGroup’s subsidiary, First Student, has come under increasingly scrutiny. First Student hires drivers and maintains bus fleets for school systems that have privatised their operations. According to unions, the privatised part of the school transportation industry is characterised by poor working conditions, low wages and rampant casualisation.  When drivers in some First Student locations began talking with their co-workers about uniting to improve conditions at First Student depots, some managers reacted with aggressive anti-union campaigns.

When they learned how US drivers were being treated bus workers in the UK took action. Drivers with shares in FirstGroup sponsored a resolution encouraging the company to adopt a human rights policy that they hoped would stop the hostility workers faced when organising unions.  The shareholder resolution garnered support not only from workers holding shares but also institutional and ethical investors.  Six percent of shareholders voted for a human rights policy.  While the resolution failed, workers were successful in gaining a pledge of neutrality from FirstGroup. 

ENDS

For more information contact ITF press officer, Sam Dawson.
Direct line: + 44 (0)20 7940 9260.
Email: dawson_sam@itf.org.uk

International Transport Workers' Federation - ITF:
HEAD OFFICE
ITF House, 49 - 60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DS
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7403 2733
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7375 7871
Email: mail@itf.org.uk
Web: www.itfglobal.org

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