Around 900 bus workers at German-owned giant to vote on with-strings offer that means ‘outrageous’ 0% on pay

The German-owned company is offering drivers, admin staff, engineers, cleaners and shunters pay rises of between four per cent and six per cent. With the real rate of inflation, RPI, running at 11.7, Unite says this is a real terms pay cut.

However, tied to the pay offer for drivers is a reduction of 16.6 per cent in overtime rates and an end to paid time for compulsory duties outside of driving, such as travelling to a bus stop to pick up a bus mid-route.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The strings attached to this so-called pay offer are outrageous – they reduce the value of the offer to zero. Arriva is asking our members to take a huge cut in the value of their earnings. That is simply unacceptable.  

“Arriva is part of a global transport giant. It can afford to pay its workers properly and Unite is determined that it will do so.”

The ballot of workers at Arriva’s depots in Luton, Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Ware, Stevenage and Hemel Hempstead will begin on 13 July, with the vote closing on 10 August. 

Strike action would severely impact bus services within, to and from Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. 

Unite regional officer Jeff Hodge said: “Strike action will inevitably cause severe disruption to bus passengers across the region, but this dispute is entirely of Arriva’s own making as workers are not prepared to accept a pay cut disguised as a rise. 

“Disruption can be avoided if Arriva makes a pay offer which meets members’ expectations.”

Nearly 2,000 Unite members employed by Arriva in the North West have recently voted to strike over pay, while over 650 Yorkshire Arriva workers were on strike earlier in the summer over the same issue.

ENDS

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Unite is Britain and Ireland’s largest union with members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Sharon Graham.