Bus drivers serving Milton Keynes and Aylesbury vote to strike after rejected offer

Arriva staff working in Bucks, Bedfordshire, and Hertfordshire, have voted to strike after a consultation period.

Drivers and other service staff were asked to vote after Arriva offered pay rises of between four per cent and six per cent to its drivers, admin staff, engineers, cleaners and shunters.

Members of the union, Unite, have labelled this offer a ‘pay cut dressed up as a rise’.

The ‘strings attached’ deal offered by the German-owned company was below the record inflation rate in the UK of 11.8 per cent.

Unite has called it a real terms pay cut.

The contract also included a 16.6 per cent cut in overtime rates and an end to paid time for compulsory duties outside of driving, like travelling to a bus stop to pick up a bus mid-route.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Arriva must improve this pay cut dressed up as a rise. It is a particularly bad deal for drivers because it has strings attached that will actually drive down their wages even further.

“I have been very clear that our members’ jobs, pay and conditions are Unite’s top priority. We will not let employers, such as Arriva and its owner Deutsche Bahn, who can afford to pay but refuse to do so, off the hook. Unless a better offer is put forward strikes will go ahead.”

Deutsche Bahn is one of the largest transport companies in the world and has paid dividends of £5 billion to the German Government over the last decade.

Strikes would be taken by staff at Arriva’s depots in Luton, Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Ware, Stevenage and Hemel Hempstead.

This would severely impact services across three counties.

Unite regional officer Jeff Hodge said: “Strikes will cause severe disruption across the region. This will be entirely Arriva’s fault for offering a pay cut disguised as a rise while our members’ are struggling with the cost of living crisis. Arriva must come back with an offer our members can accept.”

Strikes have already begun in Manchester, Arriva union members in Kent and Essex, as well as North London, are also being balloted for strike action.