The Mayor of Liverpool has slammed a 'pitiful' pay offer from Arriva and urged bosses to end the continuing bus strikes across the region.
Today is the seventh continuous day of strikes by Arriva workers who are represented by the Unite and GMB unions. The action means that no buses are available across the whole region at present.
The continuous strike action is a result of an ongoing pay dispute. As things stand, there has been no breakthrough between the parties and the walk-outs are set to continue tomorrow, when the region will also be hit by national rail strikes.
READ MORE: Merseyside train strike to cause transport chaos as Arriva buses are still off
Arriva has said it believes the 8.5% pay increase offer is generous, but the unions have rejected this and said the issues over pay and conditions have 'fermented' over many years. Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson has now intervened in the row.
In a letter to Mike Cooper, the CEO of Arriva, she slammed the company's 'pitifully low' offer, pointing out the company is also proposing reductions in sick pay and a loss of Saturday enhanced pay for workers.
She wrote: "Currently, the majority of our residents are facing a cost-of-living crisis that means without decent pay, they will fall sharply into in-work poverty. Your workforce is also facing this tsunami of rising costs and you must take some responsibility for their well-being."
She added: "We know that Arriva can afford a fair rate of pay. Arriva's parent company DB Group saw revenue rise by 18.4% in 2021 to 47.5 billion Euros. Arriva is making it very clear that they are choosing to prioritise profits over supporting their hard-working workforce that connect our communities."
The Mayor added: "I urge Arriva to return swiftly to negotiations with a view to prioritise decent pay and deliver bus services and communities. Arriva, which provides two thirds of bus services in Liverpool, must take responsibility for the considerable travel disruption that is facing our communities, affecting some of our most vulnerable residents."
Mayor Anderson added she stands in 'full solidarity' with the striking bus workers and hopes Arriva will 'prioritise the need of its workers over greed.'
Responding to the Mayor a spokesperson for Arriva UK Bus said: “We value our people and are greatly concerned by the rising cost of living and that’s why we moved decisively to offer a generous pay increase of 8.5% for bus drivers - a pay rise that very few employers in the public or private sector are matching.
"The offer would see Arriva bus drivers in Merseyside receive the highest rate of any major bus company in the North West. It has been put forward despite passenger numbers below pre-pandemic levels and operating costs increasing across the board, such as fuel.
"While we strongly believe bus workers deserve a pay rise, quite simply any pay increases must be affordable to protect fares and networks. Strike action makes it even harder to fund increased pay, as well as harming the communities that rely on essential services.
"We apologise to customers that are inconvenienced by these strikes. We want to work in partnership with our trade unions to solve shared challenges together and we urge our trade union colleagues to call off this strike and join us in talks. We would welcome including ACAS to support this process.”
Haydn Griffiths' sister sends touching message after body found at Pier Head
Wild-eyed killer rants and raves at judge as he gets life for street execution
Five symptoms of depression to look out for and treatments
Slimming World expert shares simple ways to lose weight and get 'great results'
