Travel chaos for passengers as bus drivers go on strike

Buses won't run in parts of the city this weekend after drivers staged a walk-out over pay.

Over 400 Liverpool Stagecoach bus drivers are involved in a long-running pay dispute with their employer. The drivers say there is a large disparity between what they receive and the pay of Arriva bus drivers in the city.

Unite the union said Stagecoach drivers are paid £1.40 less an hour than their Arriva colleagues, which equates to around £3,000 less over the course of a year. This weekend's strike is reportedly linked to a dispute over back pay dating from April.

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The industrial action, which affects Stagecoach bus services in Liverpool operated by the Gillmoss depot, began today, July 5, and will run until Monday evening, July 8.

Stagecoach bus services 1/X1, X2 & 471/472 operated by Birkenhead and Preston depots into Liverpool will operate as normal, as these depots are not involved in the industrial action. Normal service will resume on Tuesday morning, July 9.

Colin Hayden, Regional Officer for Unite the Union, said: "There's a pay disparity between Stagecoach and Arriva in the Liverpool City Region and our members feel aggrieved. All they want is to be paid the same rate as other major operators are paying. They want to be paid the going rate in Liverpool.

"For us as a union, if Stagecoach are planning on increasing their footprint under the franchising model, this should be an opportunity to make themselves an attractive employer and ensure they don't become an undercutter."

Mr Hayden claimed "support from the travelling public" for the strike has been "fantastic" but he criticised Stagecoach for the way they have communicated the industrial action to bus passengers. He said: "I've seen loads of people hanging round bus stops not realising that services weren't running."

Speaking last week, Matt Davies, managing director of Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire said: "We deeply regret the industrial action is taking place and are open to resolving this dispute and are available to hold talks at any time.

"We genuinely want to settle the dispute but the overall cost of a pay rise needs to be affordable at the depot. We’ve informed Unite of a number of ways in which we could resolve the dispute, they involve movement by both parties, and we are willing to do to that."

Addressing the current strike, Stagecoach said on their website: "We will continue to work closely with union representatives to avert any industrial action. If this results in any change to the above information we will inform customers as soon as possible.

"Services are expected to return to normal on Tuesday 9th July, however, due to the knock-on effect of the action there maybe some minor disruption for a short period due to a backlog of vehicle engineering maintenance - we will update on this as it is known."

According to Mr Hayden, "future escalation" is planned in the coming weeks "should the company not get back round the table and find a settlement."

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