Global Information2021 Go North West strike information
| 2021 Go North West strike | |||
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| Date | 28 February 2021 – 18 May 2021 (2 months, 2 weeks and 6 days) | ||
| Location | Greater Manchester, United Kingdom | ||
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The 2021 Go North West strike was a labour strike involving bus drivers working for Go North West, a bus operator in Greater Manchester, England, that lasted from 28 February to 18 May. The strike involved approximately 500 drivers unionised with Unite the Union and was caused by disagreements over the labour contracts between the company and employees.
Starting in March 2020, Go North West began negotiating new working arrangements with Unite with the goal of cutting costs for their Queens Road bus depot. While the union and company negotiated through 2020, neither side could come to an agreement. In August, Go North West began directly negotiating with drivers one-on-one, with Unite alleging that the company was pushing employees into accepting deals that would lower the workers' salaries. In addition, the union accused the company of firing drivers and then rehiring them under less favourable contracts. Following protests against this in September, the union and company restarted negotiations, and in December, the union made their final offer to the company with an agreement that would have seen approximately £1.2 million in annual savings. However, the company rejected this offer, instead aiming to cut approximately £1.8 million. Negotiations ended in January 2021, after which Unite began to prepare for possible industrial action against the company. On 9 February, drivers voted in favour of striking, which began on 28 February.
From the beginning of the strike, the drivers had support from numerous local activist and trade union groups, such as the Manchester Trades Union Council and the People's Assembly. Discussions between the union and company were held in late March, but ended without an agreement, and the strike continued for several more weeks. During this time, Unite also headed a leverage campaign against the Go-Ahead Group (Go North West's parent company), targeting shareholders of the group and soliciting support from several national and international trade union groups. By early May, following several days of discussions between Unite and Go North West, the two came to a formal agreement that was subsequently put to a vote amongst union members. Among the provisions of the deal, the company agreed not to employ any "fire and rehire" practices, with additional provisions including a wage increase and protections to sick pay. Strikers voted to accept the deal on 17 May, with the strike ending the next day. In total, the strike lasted almost two and a half months, making it the longest strike in Unite history and one of the longest strikes in British transportation history.