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Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Manchester, has called for planned industrial action by tram drivers over the weekend of the Parklife music festival to be postponed.<\/p>\n
Burnham offered to meet union bosses \u2013 who are demanding more than the current 5% pay rise on the table from Manchester Metrolink \u2013 if they agreed to call off the strike over the weekend of June 10-11.<\/p>\n
It is a particularly busy weekend in Manchester\u2019s live events calendar, with charity football match Soccer Aid taking place at Manchester United\u2019s Old Trafford stadium and The Weeknd headlining at Etihad Stadium and singer Roger Waters set to perform at the AO Arena.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s Parklife attracted more than 82,000 attendees while Manchester Metrolink carried an average of 500,000 passengers every week during the 12 months through to March 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will set up a process of talks, but it has to be in the real world with the kind of pressures we\u2019re under,\u201d Burnham told BBC Radio Manchester. \u201cLet\u2019s get around that table and see if we can find a way forward. But in return, I do ask the trade union today to postpone those strikes next weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response, a spokesperson for the Unite union said: \u201cMetrolink has failed to make an improved offer and therefore the strikes are set to go ahead as planned.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a separate development, the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) estimated that this week\u2019s country-wide industrial action by the ASLEF and RMT transport unions in the UK would cost the sector \u00a3200m in lost revenue over three days of strikes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the summer festival and events season just getting underway, some festivals are suggesting strike action could have a substantial impact on the season, with some suggesting it could take them to breaking point,\u201d NTIA chief executive Michael Kill said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBusinesses are suffering heavily with recent figures, showing a 40% increase in operating costs and a 15% downturn in trade, alongside interest rate rises and financial support drying up from Government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe difficult trading environment coupled with further strike action expected to last until the end of the summer will stretch most business owners\u2019 resilience .\u201d<\/p>\n
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