Stagecoach Merseyside bus workers are set to take all-out strike action.
Member of union Unite, employed by the bus service, say the strike action is in direct response to the company failing to tackle a pay dispute. The employer failed to make an improved pay offer, after 370 workers, who are based at the company’s Gilmoss depot, held an initial day of strike action on Monday, July 4.
Now continuous strike action has been announced to start on the week beginning Wednesday, July 20. There will also be one day strikes on Friday, July 15 and Monday, July 18, before the all-out action.
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Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Stagecoach is a wealthy company – it can easily afford to pay fairly and Unite is determined to ensure that it does. Our members simply want the rate for the job and are not going to accept being underpaid a moment longer.
"Stagecoach’s refusal to make an offer that would resolve this dispute has, however, resulted in an escalation in industrial action. Unite will be giving our members the union’s complete support until they receive an acceptable pay increase."
Stagecoach bus drivers are paid £12.69 an hour. It is reported that Stagecoach’s accounts for the second half of 2021 revealed that profits had more than doubled from £16.1 million to £32.9 million.
Unite regional officer Dave Roberts said: " Stagecoach has brought this dispute on itself by its refusal to make an offer which meets members’ expectations. Even at this late stage, the increased strike action and the resulting disruption this will cause to passengers can still be avoided if Stagecoach returns to the negotiating table and makes an improved offer."
Ina statement, a spokesperson for Stagecoach said: "Stagecoach Merseyside confirmed today (8 July 2022) that the Unite union has blocked the company’s offer of joint talks through ACAS to help deliver a breakthrough in the pay dispute at Gillmoss depot.
"Instead the union has informed the company of continuous strike action from 20 July, which will cause further disruption to workers and businesses in the city, as well as local people accessing vital services.
"Stagecoach has already offered drivers and engineers a pay increase of more than 10%, which would see the company’s drivers become the highest paid in Merseyside from this month. They would also continue to benefit from more generous holiday entitlement and other benefits than other local bus workers.
"The offer was recommended by the union and supported by a third of the depot workforce in a recent ballot. Stagecoach has continued efforts in recent days to break the impasse in the interests of employees, bus passengers and local communities who reply on their bus services."
Matt Davies, Managing Director of Stagecoach Merseyside, said: “We have continued to leave no stone unturned in our efforts to reach a fair settlement. ACAS is ready and willing to support joint talks, but it is deeply frustrating that Unite has firmly blocked our olive branch.
“We remain 100% committed to reaching an agreement with Unite, but that can only be achieved by talking and with commitment and flexibility on both sides. It is difficult to understand how the union can in one breath recommend our above-inflation pay offer and in the next call an all-out strike.
“Make no mistake. These are very challenging times for everybody. We put together a balanced package that delivers a very fair pay rise for our people and seeks to protect critical investment in improvements for bus passengers, as well as the ongoing sustainability of the bus network.
“We would urge Unite to suspend the planned strikes and accept the offer to work with ACAS. The only way to reach agreement on improved pay for our people is through talks not strikes.”
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