Andy Burnham 'caved into unions' when he gave bus drivers up to 56% pay rise in one of last acts as mayor

By JAMES TOZER, NORTHERN CORRESPONDENT Published: 15:52, 28 June 2026 | Updated: 15:58, 28 June 2026 Andy Burnham has been accused of ‘capitulating’ to union demands for an inflation-busting pay rise for bus drivers in one of his final acts as Mayor of Greater Manchester. In a move which the Conservatives said should ‘serve as a warning’ to the rest of the country, the PM in waiting oversaw the bumper package before he returned to Westminster. The deal gives nearly 600 bus drivers up to 56 per cent extra pay over three years. Sharon Graham, general secretary of the Unite union, praised it as a ‘huge win’ and credited union threats of strike action for securing the deal. Bus services in Greater Manchester are publicly controlled as part of the Bee Network – hailed by Mr Burnham as a ‘blueprint’ for services in other parts of the country, and lauded by his supporters as an example of how he ‘gets things done’. However Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden said the pay deal showed that if – as widely expected - the newly elected Makerfield MP becomes prime minister next month, he would be ‘no different to any other tax-raising Labour leader’. ‘He would raise your taxes to pay for more handouts to Labour’s union paymasters and in benefits to people who can work but don’t need to under Labour,’ he told the Sunday Telegraph. ‘Labour are the party of welfare and the unions, as Burnham has already shown by his record in Manchester.’ Andy Burnham has said Greater Manchester's Bee Network can be a 'blueprint' for how other areas of the country can build an integrated but affordable transport system  By the end of 2026, around half the Bee Network fleet will be electric - up from just 2% in 2023 One transport industry source told the paper the move was a ‘capitulation to union demands’ and that such a large pay increase could have a ‘domino effect’ as drivers across the network demanded similar rises. Pay rises of between 23 and 56 per cent over three years were agreed after months of negotiations between Unite and the drivers’ employer, Go North West. Threatened walk-outs by other bus operators in Greater Manchester had already been averted after pay deals worth between 5.9 per cent and 20 per cent. After Mr Burnham won a court battle to take Greater Manchester’s bus services under public control in 2023, services have steadily been rebranded into a consistent yellow livery, including nearly 400 new electric buses. While commercial firms continue to operate the services and negotiate on pay, Transport for Greater Manchester – which delivers transport services and policy on behalf of the mayor – controls fares, routes and timetables. It has also played a role in 'brokering' deals with unions. Punctuality has improved since Greater Manchester reversed decades of deregulation, with bus passenger numbers up almost a quarter. But the network ranks just 26th out of 43 English areas for overall passenger satisfaction, according to the latest survey by Transport Focus – albeit with the biggest increase compared to 12 months earlier. It is also heavily reliant on taxpayer subsidies. Andy Burnham, the newly elected MP for Makerfield, pictured outside his home on June 27 Net subsidy rose to a record high of £83.7m in 2025, more than double the amount it received just two years previously, the Telegraph reported. Mr Holden said this showed that ‘council tax payers across Greater Manchester are picking up the tab to keep Andy’s dream afloat’. A spokesman for Transport for Greater Manchester said: ‘We inherited a bus system that was shrinking and in decline – with the network almost 40 per cent smaller than in the 1970s.  'Now, we’re running our buses in a way that puts people and communities first. ‘Passenger numbers are up by 24 per cent, bus frequencies and punctuality are hugely improved, and fares have been made more affordable, with hundreds of new buses ordered from UK manufacturers. ‘A recent national, independent survey saw Greater Manchester’s bus network well ahead of the rest of country when it comes to passenger satisfaction with value for money.’ It stressed that increased subsidy reflects the increase in services brought under local control through franchising. Union sources told the Telegraph that the pay deal with bus drivers addressed historic pay disparities compared to colleagues elsewhere in the network who earn around an extra £2.50-an-hour. No comments have so far been submitted. 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