Workers at a major North East bus operator will vote again on whether to take strike action later this month.
Industrial action has been planned by Go North East workers at the Chester-le-Street depot to start from Friday 12 August.
It is understood that Go North East employees are now being re-balloted by the Union, with a recommendation from them to accept this revised offer.
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The ballot is due to close on Thursday morning, and Go North East hope to provide an update soon after this.
The plan for industrial action came after it was announced Go North East depot in Chester-le-Street will be closing from September with all routes relocating to other depots.
A spokesperson for the bus operators gave a variety of reasons for the decision with rising costs as well as changes in customer demand cited among them.
They said: "This [follows] the our recent service changes, adapting to reduced use of bus services in some areas following changes to the way people work, shop and socialise.
"The change also helps us manage the impact of rising costs and protects vital local services for customers who rely on public transport, recognising that it’s crucial to continue to offer a bus network that delivers for customers as the cost of driving becomes more expensive."
They confirmed that no driver or workshop engineer redundancies are being made as a result of the depot closure and after a constructive meeting was held on August 9th with Trade Union officials to agree some changes to the arrangements to support colleagues currently working at the depot.
The ballot is due to close on Thursday morning, and Go North East hope to provide an update soon after this. Should industrial action still go ahead, however, then services 21, X21, 34, Durham Cathedrals Bus 40/40A, Mount Oswald service 42, High Pittington 204/A and Chester Town Bus 700/1/2/3 may be affected, with a very limited service operating on the main corridors.
All other Go North East services will be unaffected. Please check our website and social media pages for further updates on Thursday lunchtime/afternoon.
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