NEARLY 500 Stagecoach Bus Drivers across Merseyside are to strike for 2 days, over:- Monday, 24 June to Tuesday, 25 June 2024. . This is likely to cause significant disruption in Liverpool and coincides with a pop concert by Pink at Anfield.in Liverpool.

This Industrial Action comes after the Unite trade union rejected what it says was an inadequate pay offer. Stagecoach is warning that this action will mean services within Liverpool will be affected, and the company will not be operating the:- 10A, 14, 53, 82, 86. Limited services will operate on: 17, 19, 20/21. It might also affect other services.

We are told that members of the trade union are unhappy with their levels of pay which are substantially below that of drivers at other bus companies within the Region. Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said in a recent press release that:- "Stagecoach can fully afford to offer our members a fair pay increase and it has so far failed to do so. Stagecoach’s workers undertake an incredibly demanding and challenging job and must be paid fairly. Unite will be backing our members to the hilt in their fight for better pay."

Unite Regional Officer Brian Troake added: "Stagecoach is a major player in Merseyside buses and it must reflect that in how it pays its drivers, without whom they wouldn't have a bus service. Our members are unhappy with the current pay offer and will not hesitate to take further strike action if Stagecoach doesn’t make an improved offer. Stagecoach is set to cause real issues for the Liverpool public if it continues to under-value and under-pay its own staff."

We are also told that the Union's previous planed strike action that should have happned this month had been called off as a goodwill gesture by Unite members while a ballot took place on the most recent pay offer.

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