Passengers warned to 'avoid travel' as National Express West Midlands bus drivers strike
Around 3,100 bus drivers are walking out daily from Monday.
Bus passengers are being urged to avoid travelling by National Express West Midlands as strike action by more than 3,000 drivers gets underway.
The majority of services across the region are being scrapped, although limited services will operate primarily serving major hospitals.
The action comes after Unite members voted to reject the latest pay deal. The union said all out indefinite walkouts will begin at 00:01 hrs on Monday (March 20).
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.”
In an open letter on the company's website, Managing Director David Bradford said: "I’m disappointed to say that our drivers have rejected our 14.3% pay offer and that means there will be a strike starting on Monday 20th March. Sadly we don’t know how long the strike will last.
"I am sorry for the disruption this is going to cause. Services will be very limited and, our advice is to avoid travel by National Express bus if possible, and check our website for live updates on which routes are running.
"We are promising three things: our goal is to run as many buses as we can. We care deeply about our customers and will prioritise routes that serve hospitals and build up what we can above that. We know a lot of drivers didn’t vote to strike, don’t want to strike, and are planning to come to work as usual. We don’t yet know how many buses and routes this will mean we can run, and things will change at short notice.
"We will provide regular updates on our website and social media about which services are operating and to what timetable. We commit to communicate openly and honestly about what is running, as things change.
"We will of course refund the cost of your bus ticket if you can’t travel. There will be a form on our website from 20th March.
"We remain committed to resolving this as quickly as possible. Please know that serving our customers is uppermost in our minds."
Passengers are encouraged to visit the National Express website here for the latest information on services.