The Keighley Bus Company has announced that some of its drivers are to strike in a dispute over pay.
Due to take place on Tuesday 4 December, the strike will affect a number of services – although the operator has pledged to keep people moving wherever possible.
“We’ve been negotiating with our drivers and the Trade Union over the past few months to work together towards a realistic settlement,” it explained in a statement.
“The offer we have made represents an increase of 34p over two years to our drivers’ hourly rate – and our drivers are already amongst the highest paid in the whole of West Yorkshire.
“The Trade Union has declined this offer, and has announced that some of our drivers will therefore be striking on Tuesday 4 December.
“Whilst we value the hard work of all of our colleagues, the Trade Union’s request for a 50p per hour increase (up to a 7% rise on a number of key rates) is simply not affordable in the current economic climate, and particularly in Keighley where there are less people travelling. We’ve made considerable investments in our people, fleet and facilities, but we simply cannot afford to increase drivers’ pay far in excess of inflation.
“As a customer focused business, we refuse to let our customers down, so we’ll be pulling out all of the stops to run as many buses as we can on Tuesday 4 December.
“We’ll be running a temporary timetable on many of our routes including Aireline 60, 62, Dalesway 66, 67, theSHUTTLE 662, Brontebus B3, Keighley Jets K3, K5, K6, K7 and K9. This means that many of our key buses to hospitals, places of work, and schools and colleges will be running.”