West Midlands bus strike to go ahead after National Express deal refused
The walk-out from Monday is set to cause big disruption to the region.
A revised pay deal has been refused by National Express bus drivers in the West Midlands, meaning daily strike action will go ahead on Monday (March 20).
The walkout is set to cause major disruption across the region, as the majority of services will not run.
It was hoped that the industrial action would be called off, after bus engineers accepted a new deal. But a ballot of Unite members who are drivers for National Express West Midlands was voted down by 71 per cent.
More than 3,100 workers will begin their walkout from 00:01 hrs on Monday.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “National Express is an extremely wealthy company and makes considerable profits from the hard work of our members, who are not paid enough for the difficult and stressful job they do. The company must come back with an offer our members can accept.
“Unite’s top priority is defending and improving our members’ jobs, pay and conditions and National Express’ workforce have their union’s full support during these strikes.”
National Express West Midlands said a limited service, primarily serving the region’s major hospitals, will operate during the strikes.
The company added that services will begin to be affected from around 10.30pm on Sunday (March 19) and customers should expect some disruption to buses which usually run late on Sunday.
A spokesperson for National Express West Midlands said: “We are sorry for the disruption that this will cause across the West Midlands. Our advice to customers is not to try to travel on our buses unless you really need to. As the week goes on, we hope to add back in more services so please check our website for the latest information.
“We are working with our partners to minimise the impact of the disruption in any way we can and we are seeking to bring a speedy resolution to the strike.”
Unite claims between 2018 and 2021, average pay at National Express West Midlands for bus workers fell by six per cent in real terms with the gap increasing even further in 2022.
The company said drivers rejected the improved offer of a 14.3% pay increase along with increases to Christmas and New Year’s pay and accident pay.