Strike action among National Express bus drivers in the West Midlands is back on - just days after it was called off following a revised pay offer.
Trade union Unite has claimed the Birmingham-based transport group has refused to allow staff to vote on that latest pay offer, something National Express disputes.
As a result, all-out indefinite strikes will commence on Monday, involving 3,100 drivers and impacting 93 per cent of the West Midlands' bus network.
This is the latest development in an ongoing pay dispute between the trade union and management at the listed firm. On March 2, Unite announced that thousands of drivers would begin continuous industrial action from today but this was cancelled on Monday after National Express came back with a revised pay offer.
But now Unite is claiming that National Express refused to allow drivers to vote on this latest offer during meetings at its depots. The union said it was willing to put the offer to a vote even though it believed it would be rejected because Unite claimed it tied workers into a three-year pay deal.
Unite has also accused National Express of insisting the union endorsed the deal and, after it refused to, claimed it told the union it must remain neutral.
Unite recommended to its members they rejected the deal and also claimed National Express wrote to it to say it was willing to adjust its offer after receiving significant feedback from drivers.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Unite stands shoulder-to-shoulder with our members at National Express - attempts at union busting by the company will not change that. They will receive Unite's complete and utter support during these strikes for a fair pay rise."
A statement from National Express said: "This is an outrageous and calculating misrepresentation of what has happened. We have been calling for a vote all along and people can see our previous comments on that. We want our drivers to have a chance to make up their own minds on our improved offer.
"We improved our offer to 14.3 per cent on the base rate in year one and we added certainty - at Unite's request - for years two and three at 3.5 per cent and 2.2 per cent.
"Not only that, but we were willing to give an inflation guarantee so that, if inflation was above either four per cent in year two or three per cent in year three, we would have reopened the negotiations. Unite's right hand clearly doesn't know what its left hand is doing.
"The real victims in this whole scenario will be the people of the West Midlands who just want to go about their daily lives and not have to contend with the disruption and chaos this strike will bring. To them, we say we are sincerely sorry and we are doing all we can to avoid this happening.
"We believe drivers should have their say in a free and fair way. We believe in a democratic process and support a confidential ballot. Why are Unite so scared of democracy? Let our people have their say."
The industrial dispute does not include National Express' coach operation.
