A furious mum has spoken after ongoing bus strikes has made it so her children cannot get to school during their GCSE exams.
Sarah Clarke, 43, has two children who are currently taking exams, a daughter who is doing her GCSEs and an 18-year-old son who is undergoing his exams at college. The Yorkshire family, who live in Cleckheaton, have only one way of getting to school without driving, the bus.
However, a dispute between Arriva and its drivers means that no Arriva buses are currently running in the area. Sarah is unable to drive due to a medical condition ad her key worker partner has to leave the house before the kids start school and college. Because of this, the family's only option is to pay for a month's worth of taxis so the kids don't miss their exams.
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Speaking to Yorkshire Live, Sarah said: It wouldn't worry me so much at any other time but obviously if they're even five minutes late to an exam they wouldn't be allowed in.
"My daughter has found the run-up to exams really stressful anyway what with her education having been affected by Covid for the last two years - and this is just adding a whole other level. When you're trying to do well in your first exams you don't want to be thinking about how on earth you're going to get there.
"These exams could affect her for the rest of her life. She's staying after school late for revision sessions once she's finished exams and then she has to worry about getting home too."
Unite members went on strike after the union rejected Arriva's offer of a 4.1 per cent pay increase for drivers, arguing that it didn't reflect the real inflation rate (RPI) which currently stands at 11.1 per cent. The strike began on June 6 and currently has no end-date while Sarah's daughter's GCSE exam period will last until June 23.
Sarah's daughter and her other teenager were able to be picked up by their school between Birkenshaw and Gomersal to ensure they got to their exams. However, this wasn't an option for her college student son who had to get up early to walk three miles to the nearest train station so he could go to his college in Huddersfield.
Unfortunately, Sarah is unsure as to whether this arrangement will last all month. "If we have to get taxis, we'll probably be looking at spending an extra £50 every week to get the kids to school, and that's just too much," she said.
"And there's also the fear about whether we'll be able to get taxis and whether they will be here on time. Lots of families in this area I'm sure will be left in similar positions and will be competing for taxis. S I'll be ordering them really early just to ensure the kids won't be late.
"I do really support strike action but I think it should have been sorted between Arriva and Unite before it got to the point of indefinite strikes. It's going to affect so many people who need to get to hospitals, schools, work and more."
Unite regional officer Phil Bown said: "Unite's members have every sympathy with the problems bus passengers are having getting to exams, work and appointments.
"This strike action is being taken as an absolute last resort and is a result of bus workers being chronically underpaid by Arriva. We have members in full time jobs being forced to choose between paying their rent or eating.
"Bus driving is a highly skilled and demanding role and our members deserve to be paid fairly to undertake it.
"Unite has spent eight months trying to enter into negotiations with Arriva over pay. The company has had every opportunity to make a fair offer to our members but it has chosen not to do so. Unite is urging Arriva to return to the negotiating table and to make an offer that meets our members' expectations."
A spokesperson for Arriva said: "We’re really sorry to hear Sarah’s story. We know how important buses are to the communities we serve and how much difficulty this strike is causing – particularly as it has coincided with GCSEs. We urgently want this strike suspended and are asking that the Unite union, who called the strike, suspend it immediately.
"We agree that bus workers, who perform such a crucial role, deserve a pay rise – which is why despite the very challenging economic conditions coming out of the pandemic, we have put forward generous pay rises of between 7 and 12.5 per cent for bus workers. We are asking the Unite union puts this offer to their members and let them vote on it."
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