Bosses at the biggest bus company in Bristol, Bath and in Somerset said they are still ‘optimistic’ that a deal can be done with drivers over pay after a staff voted overwhelmingly to reject a pay offer and said they would be prepared to go on strike.
Members of the Unite union balloted members on First Bus management’s pay offer for this year, and across all six depots there was a majority of drivers who voted against it. A second ballot asked if drivers were prepared to take industrial action in their fight for better pay, and again the vast majority of drivers and staff at the First depots in Hengrove, Lawrence Hill, the central bus station in Bristol, Weston-super-Mare, Bath and Wells in Somerset said they would.
Unite said the vote showed a ‘resounding no’ to the pay rise offered by First Bus, and they would now be pushing for a better pay deal. The vote comes after First Bus West of England boss Doug Claringbold outlined just how much of a challenge it was to recruit and retain bus drivers - with many being poached with massive pay rises to become lorry drivers in the past six months.
Read more: First Bus urgently recruiting drivers after many poached by HGV companies
A spokesperson for Unite outlined the result of the ballot to members last week. Unite members, who represent bus drivers and maintenance staff at six depots from Bristol and Somerset, took part in a consultative ballot in the first week of March.
At all but one of the six depots, there was a huge majority voting against the pay offer - more than 84 per cent of drivers voted against it, up to 98.5 per cent in Weston-super-Mare. Only in Wells was the majority slimmer, where those who wanted to reject First’s pay deal outnumbered those willing to accept it by 57-43.
Unite members were equally decisive when it came to the question of whether they are willing to take industrial action over the pay dispute. Staff at Bristol Bus Station voted 92 per cent to eight per cent to say they were, and it was equally as strong in Hengrove, Lawrence Hill, Weston and Bath, where those in favour of taking industrial action ranged from 87 per cent to 92 per cent.
“These results show a resounding ‘no’ to the pay rise offered by First Bus management, and that the majority of members are prepared to take strike action to achieve the pay rise you deserve for the work you have been doing for the past two years during the pandemic,” a Unite spokesperson told members.
Unite said it would be going back to First Bus to demand a better pay offer, and negotiations would continue. There would need to be a second ballot about a new offer, before any strike action takes place.
First West of England said it was still hopeful a deal could be thrashed out. “This was a consultative ballot which means we are still in negotiations with the union representatives and right now we remain very optimistic about an agreement being reached,” a spokesperson for First said. “Clearly talks are at a very sensitive point so we do not want to comment further at this stage,” he added.
Earlier this month, the Government announced the last 'bus deal' of support for bus companies through the covid pandemic. First bus boss Doug Claringbold said that, across the West of England, they were back to running 90 per cent of the services they did pre-pandemic, but only 70 per cent of the passengers had returned.
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