Staff at Liberty Bus in Jersey have rejected the company’s latest pay offer in a dispute which has been going on for over a year, ITV News reported.
The development could lead to a vote on industrial action, with 43% of the HCT Group-owned operator’s bus drivers being members of the Unite union. However, Nick Corbel from Unite has said that he is ‘determined’ to continue talks to avoid strike action.
Liberty Bus offered a pay rise of between 3 and 6%, to bring everyone to a standard rate by the beginning of next year. Talks to decide pay for 2016 started in October 2015 and the company said it is keen to meet with the union soon.
Kevin Hart, General Manager of Liberty Bus, said it was ‘disappointed’ with the outcome and the operator had offered other benefits.
He added: “We also offered a range of staff benefits, including an improvement to our free travel scheme for staff family members – which is the equivalent of a further 1.5% in cash terms – and an extension of our healthcare benefits scheme to encompass all full-time staff.”
