North East Stagecoach workers announce two days of strike action this month after talks break down
Approximately 600 bus workers are set to strike over two days later this month.
Summer holiday Stagecoach bus strikes across the North East are back on after workers rejected the company’s latest pay offer.
Unite The Union, who represent the company’s bus workers, claim the offer did not bring the workers pay parity with colleagues doing the same job for Stagecoach in other parts of the country.
They use the example of the North West, where drivers in Manchester earn £17.54 per hour compared to £15.01 across Tyne and Wear.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Stagecoach North East’s workers have rejected the company’s latest offer because it totally undervalued them. Stagecoach is a profitable company and can afford to improve the deal. The workers will receive Unite’s full backing during these pay strikes.”
600 Stagecoach workers across the region, including drivers and engineers, will take strike action on Monday, August 18 and Thursday, August 21. The union has warned strike action will intensify if the dispute is not resolved.
Unite regional officer Dave Telford said: “There will be severe disruption to bus services across Newcastle and Tyne and Wear but this is entirely the fault of Stagecoach for failing to put forward an acceptable offer. There is still time for industrial action to be avoided but that will require Stagecoach tabling a deal its workers can accept.”
Steve Walker, Managing Director of Stagecoach North East, said: "We are disappointed that our latest offer increasing the drivers pay by 5% over the course of the year has been rejected by drivers and engineers at our two Newcastle depots and engineers at our Sunderland and South Shields depots.
“Our proposal was above inflation, and met the Unions aspiration that the final rate was 5% higher. Newcastle drivers are already the highest paid in the region compared to other large operators and have been awarded pay rises in previous years that were well above inflation.
“We remain committed to ensuring that drivers do receive an affordable pay increase. This strike action will cause unnecessary disruption across our Newcastle-based communities, and we urge the trade union members and Unite the Union to reconsider their position.
“We will do everything possible to minimise the impact of the planned industrial action, but there will be a reduced bus service across Newcastle on Monday 18th and Thursday 21st August. All other services in the North East and Tees Valley regions will continue to operate as normal.”