ALAN Broughton has been a bus driver for more than 25 years.

But over the past few months he has spent a great deal of his time on the picket line outside First Manchester's Crook Street depot.

Leading up to October 2 it is likely he will spend another eight days away from a bus wheel while the firm's vehicles remain firmly locked inside.

The current pay dispute has seen a stand-off between bus bosses and union members since talks began in February and it shows no sign of going away.

Mr Broughton has, against the wishes of the Transport and General Workers Union, decided to speak out on the action, something the rest of his colleagues have so far refused to do for fear of the sack.

The 51-year-old is one of the higher paid workers at First Manchester and earns £6.60 an hour, the top rate for drivers at the company.

Despite his own good fortune Mr Broughton is incensed that more than half of the bus firm's employees are on £4.75 an hour, a wage paid to workers with less than two years service at the firm.

"That's two pence less than a Salford lollipop lady gets," Mr Broughton said.

He lives in Eccles with his wife and has worked at the Bolton depot - the second largest in Britain - for two and a half years of his quarter of a century on the buses.

And while he says his financial situation is good, he claims some drivers are being handed up to £100 a week in family credit from the government because they are struggling to pay the bills.

He said: "I know a man with two children who gets £87 a week on family credit.

"The government has to subsidise the drivers because they're not getting paid enough which is disgraceful since this is a responsible job.

"Drivers can have the responsibility for the safety of up to 95 people at a time."

Another driver on the picket line on Monday August 7 was a 35-year-old worker from Leigh who started working for First Manchester six months ago on the basic entry wage of £4.54 an hour, a payment which rises to £5.06 after two years.

He said: "It's very hard to manage on the wage. We have to do a lot of overtime for a decent pay packet.

"I find it difficult to accept that we are not paid the same as some people here when we do the same job.

"In the long term I think the strikes will be worth it."

In Mr Broughton's opinion, First Manchester is operating "industrial apartheid" in creating a gap between the wages of workers.

He added: "This country is the fifth richest in the world and I think people deserve to be paid a liveable wage that makes bringing up a family possible.

"It's sickening when you see the bosses of First Group awarding themselves 83 and 95 per cent wage increases."

Seven strikes have been pencilled in for August 18 and 31, September 1, 4, 15, 18 and 29 and October 2.

Mr Broughton added: "I find it so difficult to come back to the depot and hand over the bus to someone else to drive knowing he is likely to be doing the same job as I've just done for a couple of pounds less."

Despite the claims by bus drivers, Russell Gard, operations director for First Manchester, maintains the firm has done everything it can to resolve the situation.

He said the firm did not like to talk to the union while strikes were being threatened but had decided to do so regardless in a bid to end the dispute.

And he accused the union of having a weak case, claiming it is the reason the drivers have not agreed to binding arbitration, adding: "Every compromise has been rejected and the union doesn't seem to realise the basic fact that negotiation is a two-sided process."