First day of strike action as TfGM office and interchange staff rally over conditions and pay

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

More than a hundred TfGM staff members staged a rally in Manchester city centre this afternoon (December 12) on their first day of planned strike action.

Bus and tram drivers are not taking part, so Bee Network services are expected to run as normal. But union members in office-based roles, and frontline workers at transport interchanges and ticket offices, began their strike at midnight today, which will last until just before midnight on Sunday December 15.

In a letter to union bosses, published to X this afternoon, mayor Andy Burnham said the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) had been “disappointed” by the decision to strike, on what is predicted to be one of the busiest weekends of the year with myriad events taking place in the city centre. READ MORE: Andy Burnham offers to 'come to the table' with striking TfGM workers But there was a charged and cheerfully defiant atmosphere at the rally, which began outside TfGM headquarters on Piccadilly Place just after 1 o’clock.

Easily upwards of 150 people took part in the march, which took a scenic route past Piccadilly station towards Piccadilly Gardens, through the bus station, then following the tram tracks along Mosley Street to St Peter’s Square.