Arriva Northwest Strikes: Or, Why We All Hate Arriva Now
Here's a bit of background for anyone who's not in-the-know when it comes to the current Arriva Northwest strikes: Arriva drivers are on between £12-£14 p/h, far above the national minimum wage of £7.05 for under 24's, and £7.50 for those aged 25 and over - pretty decent wage, right? Unfortunately, the owner of Arriva, pan-European public transportation operator Deutsche Bahn has taken Arriva profits and given the owners a 20% pay rise, while giving the drivers of Arriva Northwest a 2% raise. This is hardly fair, but it's how almost every major corporation works - the little man gets screwed while the fat-cats in charge line their pockets. The drivers of Arriva Northwest had requested a 3% pay rise, and they haven't got it, so they're striking. They're also not happy that drivers in other areas that Arriva services are being paid more than them - also not fair.