OVER 300 bus drivers at Stagecoach West have voted to go on strike over a dispute about pay.

Unite the union has held a ballot over the past three weeks to give members a chance to decide whether or not to strike over the issue, with the outcome of the vote announced yesterday (Thursday).

However, Unite has decided not to announce strike action immediately in order to give the bus operator a final opportunity to make a pay offer which meets workers’ expectations.

Many of the drivers are currently paid under £11 an hour, which they say isn't enough for a highly demanding and responsible role.

And Stroud's Stagecoach bus drivers are paid less than their colleagues in other parts of Gloucestershire, which they would like levelled up.

The bus operator proposed pay increases of up to 10% covering employees across five depots in Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stroud, Coalway and Bristol, which were rejected by Unite.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Stagecoach needs to end its penny-pinching and pay bus workers a decent wage. Unite has been relentless in its campaign to ensure our members at Stagecoach across the country receive a fair pay increase.

“Unite does what it says on the trade union tin and always puts the jobs, pay and conditions of its members first. Our members at Stagecoach West will be receiving Unite’s unequivocal support until this dispute is resolved.

"Despite its pleas of poverty Stagecoach’s parent company remains extremely profitable. Notwithstanding the Covid-19 pandemic, its accounts reveal that the group made a profit of £58.4 million and it has £875 million of available liquidity."

If strike action goes ahead it will affect all of Stagecoach West’s operations from its depots in Bristol, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stroud, Colway and Ross-on-Wye.

Yesterday (Thursday) Stagecoach urged Unite "to put customers first and be prepared to return to talks showing flexibility in finding a way forward, without resorting to unnecessary strike action that would cause damage to local communities and major inconvenience to customers and employees".

Rachel Geliamassi, managing director of Stagecoach West, said: “We have already been in touch with Unite to ask for a meeting to discuss a way forward.

“However, Unite need to come back to talks prepared to show flexibility in finding a way forward without the threat of strike action that would cause untold damage for everybody.

“At a time when we should be working together to protect jobs and services and we’re making some really positive steps to improve the reliability of our services, disruption as a result of strike action would set back the recovery of bus services and come as a real kick in the teeth for our local communities.

“Bus services across the country still require government support with passenger numbers still significantly below pre-pandemic levels, and any unnecessary strike action would cause further damage at a time when we are trying our hardest to build back from Covid.”