Arriva North West drivers and engineers staged a 24-hour strike on November 20, 2017.
Unions have also called further strike dates, which are currently expected to take place on December 4, 7, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22 and 23.
No planned Arriva bus services in Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire or Cheshire took place on Monday, except for services running out of the Chester depot 1, 1A, 15, 15A, DB1, DB2, DB4, 3, 3A, 4, 4A, 10, 10A, 82 and services coming into Chester from Wrexham and Rhyl which ran as normal. Arriva said passengers with pre-paid Arriva tickets were able to use them on the Merseyrail and Northern rail networks on November 20, along with Stagecoach Quality Network Routes.
Asked by CBW for the numbers involved, Eddie Parker, GMB Organiser replied: “The present rate is £11.73. The offer is £12.04 from April 2017 and £12.08 from October 2017. This gives an annual rise of 2.82%. The GMB and Unite have a mandate from our memberships of a rate of £12.10 from April 2017 – an annual rise of 3.15%.”
Phil Stone, Regional Managing Director for Arriva North West, said: “Arriva tabled an improved offer for our drivers at a meeting with Unite and GMB. We are still awaiting the results of Unite and GMB’s ballot to its members on this improved pay offer.
“It is disappointing therefore that Unite and GMB have announced further strike dates without first confirming the outcome of the ballot and allowing Arriva to respond.
“We are, as ever, keen to meet with the Unite and GMB to resolve the pay dispute and have requested a further meeting with them this Thursday to put an end to the disruption and inconvenience caused to our customers through strike action. Any pay offer has to be sustainable for the business going forward and we believe we have put forward a fair pay deal for our drivers.”
Unite Regional Officer, John Boughton, said: “This below inflation final offer is an insult to Arriva employees, to the people in the communities in which Arriva operates and to businesses which will be affected by further strike action.”
