The Unite union says that more than 1,000 drivers at First West of England will be taking “highly disruptive” action as children return to school after the holidays.
Drivers at six depots have voted to strike over pay. In Bristol, the First West of England drivers work at Bristol Bus Station, Lawrence Hill and Hengrove, which provide inner-city bus routes in the city as well as services for Bristol Airport, local universities and Amazon’s Bristol warehouse.
The other three affected depots are Weston Island in Bath, Weston-super-Mare and Wells.
Unite members at the depots have rejected a two-year pay deal, which would give them £1 an hour extra of pay per hour from now until March 2026, then a “miserly” 30p hourly increase from April 2026.
New starters will only be offered 50p extra on the hourly rate, which goes up by just a “pitiful” 10p next April, says Unite.
The union’s general secretary Sharon Graham said: “First Group PLC can clearly afford to pay our members more but are choosing to put profits over people.
“This dispute is entirely of First Group’s own making and any disruption could be easily avoided. Our members will have Unite’s complete support.”
Unite says drivers will also lose out on backpay, as despite the pay anniversary date being April, First West of England has not committed to giving any remuneration for the past four months of the wage increase.
First West of England is part of First Group PLC, which had an operating profit of £204.3 million in 2024 while share dividends were increased by 45% compared to the previous year.
There will be an initial four days of strikes from Thursday 4th to Monday 8th September, followed by further strikes from Tuesday 16th to Friday 19th September.
Cancellations and long delays to services are expected.
Unite regional officer Amy Roberts said: “While the situation will be frustrating for passengers, our members have no choice but to take industrial action to make their voices heard.
“First West of England could still stop this disruption by coming back to the table with a meaningful pay offer.”
Doug Claringbold, managing director for First Bus in the West of England, told the Echo: “We are disappointed for our customers that the above-inflation pay offer we made to drivers has been rejected and that they will now face nine days of potentially significant disruption across Bristol, Bath, Wells and North Somerset.
“Our pay offer was significantly above the rate of inflation and amounted to a pay increase of 8% over two years, including 6% this year, which was recommended by the trade union to our Bristol colleagues. However, that has been rejected and just over half of our drivers have voted to strike.
“We have been committed to improving the pay of drivers and continue to do so. Since 2021 a Bristol driver’s basic earnings has increased from just over £24,000 to more than £31,000 – a 31% increase. This pay offer would immediately increase these basic earnings to over £33,000, with many drivers earning significantly more than this.
“Throughout this extensive negotiation process, we have listened to Unite member feedback and made a number of offers in order to try and settle this dispute, to ensure customers are not affected by strike action.
“Unfortunately, rather than work with us to find a resolution, Unite has decided to press ahead with strikes in September at a busy time when schools and colleges are returning. We have reminded them that it is our customers who are going to suffer.
“We are continuing to work with the trade union to avoid any strikes. In the meantime, we ask customers to check our website and app before travelling where we will post updates about potential disruption.”
