Bus drivers strike in Leeds in row over pay

Find out which services will be affected as almost 1000 drivers at the Hunslet and Bramley bus depots are holding a day of strike action

Published 13th Jun 2016

Thousands of commuters are facing disruption to their travel as a 24-hour bus strike takes place after union members rejected the latest pay offer from First Leeds.

Around 1,000 Members of the Unite union began a walkout at 2am, affecting a total of 65 First Leeds bus routes across the city.

The industrial action is part of a row over pay, with Unite members calling for an extra 36p an hour. The Unite group rejected the latest pay offer at a union branch meeting last week.

The union are warning that another strike for next week is lined up for Monday 20th June if the dispute is not resolved.

Phil Bown, from Unite union, told Radio Aire "Unfortunatelty there will be limited services running this morning.

"I'd like the company to get us round the table and start meaningful neogations to resolve this situation."

The Leeds Park and Ride from Elland Road is expected to run as normal. Many routes are facing reduced services, with many more not running at all. A full list is available on the First Group website.

These services WILL NOT run on Monday 13 June

Service 4A, 5, 7A, 7S, X7, 9. 11/11A, 14, X14, 15, X15, 16A, 19/19A, 28, 33A, 38, 48, 49, 50A, 52, 54, 55, 59, 60/60A, 61/61A, 63, 64, 70, 74, X84, 85/87, 86,86A, 88, 90, 91, 97, X99, 965.

A full list is available on the First Group website.

Paul Matthews, managing director of First Leeds said, "I'm very disappointed that the new pay offer negotiated with Unite has been rejected without the chance for all our staff to vote on the 1-year deal that would have provided a pay increase for our drivers of over 3%.

"We remain absolutely committed to resolving this dispute/ We will do all we can to avoid further industrial action whilst ensuring our hard working drivers benefit from an above-inflation, yet affordable, pay increase."