Go South x 2

Go Ahead Horsham news follows...

Tomorrow, the RMT union instructs its 230 members at Southern Vectis to strike. 230 out of over 300 staff is a significant if not an overwhelming proportion of its workforce.

Drivers are also due to walk out on Friday & Saturday 11 & 12 September when the island’s so-called boutiqutte music festival ‘Bestival’ blasts off, requiring about 20 extra vehicles a day.

The RMT had tried to co-ordinated strike action at Bluestar for the same three days, perhaps in an attempt to make cover for strikers as difficult as possible. The Bluestar action was abandoned because the of possible ballot irregularities.

It’s understood that of the 230 union members at SVOC, only 76 (that is, a quarter of the *complete* staff complement) voted to strike. Strikes on that proportion inevitably rely upon trade union solidarity.

With just a strike at Southern Vectis alone, RMT looks shakey, especially given that SVOC’s management team has a reputation for pulling rabbit after rabbit out of the hat when they have big commitments such as Bestival to meet. The word behind the scenes is that it was SVOC’s management team that provided many of the staff and much of the impetus that effectively broke last year’s RMT strike at Wilts & Dorset in Poole.

Though we shall have to see on the day, some are suggesting that RMT is in serious risk of failing to deliver much of an impact this Thursday. Tensions are reported as high between RMT members wanting to work and those wanting to strike. Managers are saying quite publicly that they have over 100 driving staff available from SVOC and further afield, and they predict close to a full service. They have been writing to and even in a most modern way texting their drivers since the strike was called, in an effort to encourage drivers to work, if they want to.

But is there a bigger picture to see? Go South Coast stood up to the RMT in Poole last year and sources tell us that they have taken a more robust line across all their companies. SVOC management has something of a reputation locally, deserved or not, for being more vigorous with the RMT than its sisters. This may even buck the national trend. This therefore looks suspiciously like a dispute where Go South Coast and SVOC have the stomach to stand firm. It’s the third strike vote the RMT has threatened SVOC with in the last couple of years, and could it be that management has called the union's bluff?

Another big news story today is that Metrobus will on 3 October take over Arriva Guildford & West Surrey’s services in Horsham. Included in the sale are 19 vehicles and 58 employees. Expect some consolidation between Horsham and the Metrobus Crawley garage during the ensuing months.

Without knowing the turnover at Horsham, it’s impossible to comment on the £5mil deal. The price seems high for a smallish garage in an area where the bus market is mature. It’s a town that has seen quite some development but is currently constrained by green belt land that locals fight hard to protect though the buffer is under threat. Horsham’s future development may be the key to unlocking a rosier future for bus operations.

Arriva’s services complement Metrobus’ existing eastern and norther inter-urban work. Arriva operates town and local services including a quarter-hourly route from Southwater to Rofey via Horsham that runs over the longer distance hourly Metrobus service from Worthing to Crawley via Horsham. Arriva also operates hourly from Horsham to Dorking.