BETTER BUSES IN YORKSHIRE CAMPAIGN

DAY OF ACTION Tuesday 6^th October

and public zoom meeting 6pm Monday 19^th October to speak to our Council Leaders to let them know what WE think!

Can you join us in this community-wide campaign to pressure our local leaders to save our buses and bring them back under public control?

Sheffield TUC is joining Better Buses South Yorkshire, UNITE Community, Barnsley TUC and a range of other unions and community organisations to put pressure on City Region Mayor Dan Jarvis and the 4 Local Council Leaders to take back our buses under public control. The recent Bus Review headed up by Clive Betts MP called on Dan Jarvis to implement the franchising option – we need to put the pressure on to make sure that happens!

We are delighted that TUC Yorks and Humber Region is supporting this campaign and has set up a web page for a coordinated push for Better Buses across South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire/York

Please sign our letter to Dan Jarvis:

TUC Yorks and Humber has now launched a letter to Dan Jarvis and the Council Leaders in South Yorkshire asking them to come to a public meeting at 6pm on Monday 19th October to hear our views on better buses.

You can access the letter here https://bit.ly/betterbusesnow

It only takes a minute to add your name to the letter which will then be sent automatically.

Please sign! And share this message to get others to sign!

We need to get lots of names from across our region – please share this email as widely as you can with your trade union branch, campaign group, friends and family and encourage everyone to add their name.

Join our Day of Action on Tuesday 6^th October. Can you put up posters/stickers on bus shelters etc.?

On 6th October we will have stalls in as many places as possible to distribute posters and stickers to put up in and around bus stops. The Sheffield stall will be outside Moor Market on the Moor from 12 noon till 1pm. This will be a pick-up point where people can come and collect posters and stickers to put up in their local area e.g. on bus shelters. (We need a couple of people to help Carrie who will be in charge of the stall – if you wish to help please get in touch). Please come and pick up posters and stickers to publicise our action in your area – and build for the public zoom meeting on 19^th Oct. (see attached copies of posters) better buses south yorkshire poster. pdf

Your Bus Service May Be at Risk

Can your union branch/other organisation issue a press release on the Day of Action?

Try and get your union branch (or other organisation) to put out a press statement the day before to the local media in support of the Better Buses South Yorkshire campaign

Join our South Yorkshire public meeting via Zoom with our Council Leaders

The South Yorkshire public meeting will be via Zoom at 6pm on Monday 19^th October. To register please go to https://www.tuc.org.uk/better-buses-yorkshire-zoom-calls The Council Leaders are invited to attend to hear our views.

Of course, we realise not everyone who sends the letter will be able to join it! Please sign whether you intend to come to the meeting or not – we need to put as much pressure on these leaders as we can to advance the campaign for public control of our buses.

Regards Fran Postlethwaite, Better Buses South Yorkshire

Buses in Yorkshire should be run to serve our community, not to fill the pockets of private companies.

But currently, our buses are in crisis. When the government’s emergency funding ends, we risk losing millions of miles of bus route.

Key decisions will be made by council leaders and mayors in the coming months, so we must build pressure to bring buses back under public control now.

We know the best way to influence decision makers is by speaking to them face to face. Current circumstances make that difficult, so we’ve organised a Zoom call and will invite leaders to hear from locals on this important issue.

Can you add your voice to our invitation? We need to show them how important our buses are to people all over Yorkshire.

We’ve set up this action so you can write to your council leaders or mayor, asking them to attend our Zoom meetings on 19th October.

Email West Yorkshire Council Leaders

Email South Yorkshire Councillors and Mayors

Email North Yorkshire and York Council Leaders

Your local council leaders have the power to take buses into public control, meaning buses run for passengers, not profit. We need to pressure them to take action.

Regards,

Gareth
TUC Yorkshire & the Humber
On behalf of Better Buses for Yorkshire

STOP PRESS – YOUR BUS SERVICE IS AT RISK!

Currently the Government is bailing out the private bus companies to keep services running during the COVID crisis even though passenger loadings are well below normal. The Government has not committed to keeping this funding going – if it stops, the bus companies WILL axe services. We can’t afford to let this happen! Even more reason to support this campaign!