THEY look in good spirits enjoying the early morning sunshine, despite being forced to walk to work.

These women were among thousands of people who had to find other means of transport – when Oxford busmen walked out on strike.

Employees staged a one-day stoppage in Oxford in 1958 in sympathy with four colleagues – two conductors, one conductress and one driver - who had been suspended.

The suspensions had been ordered by management after the four had refused to carry up to eight standing passengers on the company’s new 65-seat vehicles.

The Transport and General Workers’ Union argued that the number should be a maximum of five, and described the suspensions as “harsh disciplinary action”. The Oxford Mail reported: “Most Oxford people got to work this morning, despite the one-day bus strike. Many workers had arranged to get lifts in friends’ cars, others cycled or got up earlier and walked to work.

“During the early part of the day, it was almost impossible to get a taxi or hire-car. Most firms reported that they had every one of their cars on the road.

“Very few people were stranded. It was a rare sight to see anyone thumbing a lift. Normal working with no more absenteeism than usual is reported by firms in the area.”

Eight hundred employees of City of Oxford Motor Services lost a day’s pay and 250 buses on city and county routes were off the road. Arthur Gillians, the busmen’s leader, said the stoppage was complete.

There had been a long-standing argument between management and union over the number of standing passengers, particularly as larger buses with more seats were introduced.

Mr TP Sheridan, the company’s general manager, said an agreement on eight standing passengers had been in force since 1948 and had not been varied. But the union claimed there was no such agreement, and that although it was prepared to accept a figure of five on large buses, its ultimate aim was to have no standing passengers. The busmen received no sympathy in some quarters. One reader wrote to the Mail describing their attitude as “that of a baby who stamps its foot and cries ‘Shan’t!’”

Ten days after the stoppage, bus crews held a mass meeting and decided to agree “under protest” to allow eight passengers to stand.

In return, the company lifted the suspensions on the four who originally refused to take eight standing passengers and six more who later followed suit.

Two years later, busmen staged a two-day strike, on December 26 and 27, 1960. The union had demanded that crews not working on December 27 should be paid and crews working should be given a day off in lieu. The management rejected the claim.