Bus union demands pay deal for London 2012 Games

The union said it expects more than one million extra people to travel on buses during the Games

A union has demanded more money for London's bus drivers working during the 2012 Olympic Games.

The capital's 28,000 bus drivers should be given a deal similar to that agreed for rail workers, and being negotiated for Tube staff, the Unite union said.

It said as the bus network would carry an expected one million more passengers during the Games it would reflect their extra workload and increased traffic.

The mayor of London's office has not yet commented on the demands.

Last week unions agreed a deal that secured pay rises and other conditions during the 2012 Olympics for Network Rail staff.

This included a 10% rise over two years and a one-off £500 pay increase for some 10,000 workers.

Since then the Rail Maritime and Transport union leader Bob Crow has said he wants London Underground staff to be offered a similar deal.

Unite's London secretary Peter Kavanagh said mayor Boris Johnson should acknowledge the importance of the capital's bus drivers.

"The mayor needs to recognise that far more people are carried on London's buses than all other public transport.

"City Hall is making a big mistake if it thinks it can treat bus drivers like second-class citizens during the Olympics.

"Failure to do the decent thing by them will only fuel the rising tide of anger among this crucial workforce."