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Unite to step up fight at Plymouth city council meetings against the selling of CityBus

1st July 2009

Unite, the UK’s biggest union, has again expressed fury at Plymouth city council's decision to attempt to sell off local bus company CityBus, and is preparing to step up the fight at all scheduled council meetings in Plymouth.

Unite is concerned that the sale means jobs will be lost, and there will be a reduction in services to the community and a number of routes lost.

Unite regional officer, Clayton Roberts, said: “All council meetings regarding this issue will have full Unite representation and we shall be making our stance very clear.

“We have a 15,000-strong petition signed by the people of Plymouth showing their support for our campaign. The public is clearly asking the council why it is prepared to sell off its bus service against their will. As the decision to sell CityBus was made without an official vote from the cabinet, the councillors are clearly going against their democratic principles.

“The bus service provided to Plymouth offers a yearly return of over £500,000 a year. The council however has said that there is a potential financial liability to the council and so must be sold off to the highest bidder. The council has already spent £1 million on a feasibility study, which is an insult to the Plymouth taxpayer.

“There is a clear rejection of this proposal from all concerned in Plymouth. In our experience a sell off will result in three things - fares will go up, services will be cut and there will be substantial job losses.  The council must abandon this ludicrous, unpopular idea now.”

The ballot result of Unite members at CityBus showed a 100 per cent rejection of the privatisation of the bus company.

ENDS

Please contact Clayton Roberts on 07711 057 083 or Mark Di-Toro in the Unite press office on 07918 640 579

NOTES

Over 400 members, including drivers, maintenance workers and general bus workers along with many members of the public are all set to be affected by this decision.