{"id":30665,"date":"2025-06-09T12:05:03","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T12:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/stagecoach-drivers-begin-six-week-strike-as-pay-dispute-rolls-on\/"},"modified":"2025-06-09T12:05:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T12:05:03","slug":"stagecoach-drivers-begin-six-week-strike-as-pay-dispute-rolls-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/stagecoach-drivers-begin-six-week-strike-as-pay-dispute-rolls-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Stagecoach drivers begin six week strike as pay dispute rolls on"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Stagecoach will operate a limited service in Ayrshire and Arran during the dispute<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

Bus drivers in the West of Scotland are beginning a six week strike against their employers in an escalation of an ongoing pay dispute.<\/p>\n

More than 400 Stagecoach drivers at depots in Ayr, Arran, Ardrossan and Kilmarnock will not return to work until 21 July, with the operator running a limited service as a result.<\/p>\n

The Unite union said the action was due to the company not offering any improvement on a “simply unacceptable” 4% offer from last November.<\/p>\n

Stagecoach said any pay offer had to preserve the viability of bus services in the area.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Why are Stagecoach drivers on strike?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
\n

Unite previously held three separate 24 hour strikes in May and June,<\/a> but the latest action escalates the dispute by running consecutively for six weeks.<\/p>\n

The union has claimed the drivers involved are among the poorest paid across Stagecoach’s UK operations. <\/p>\n

Siobhan McCready, an industrial officer at Unite, said the most recent Stagecoach offer had strings attached to it. <\/p>\n

She stated: “The drivers are being asked to fund a pay rise by working longer hours, taking longer unpaid breaks and losing a week of annual leave.<\/p>\n

“This is simply unacceptable, and it will not be tolerated by Unite.”<\/p>\n

Ms McCready added that the prolonged action could be ended if Stagecoach listened to workers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Limited Stagecoach services<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
\n

Stagecoach said passengers should check its website<\/a> for updates to services throughout the strike.<\/p>\n

Services in Cumbernauld and Dumfries and Galloway are unaffected by the industrial action. <\/p>\n

The company said it would aim to keep as many services running by working with drivers from other companies.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said: “Regrettably, the industrial action will disrupt our services and inconvenience our customers.<\/p>\n

“We’re working hard to minimise the impact of this disruption, but unfortunately, the limited services we’re running will affect customers travelling in and around Ayrshire.”<\/p>\n

The company previously stated it was committed to reaching a “fair and sustainable agreement \u2013 one that supports our employees while ensuring the long-term viability of our services across west Scotland.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The previous one day strikes proved controversial after Unite claimed members were told by Stagecoach to stay away from picket lines as working staff may be intimidated.<\/p>\n

Ms McCready claimed the company had been using CCTV at depots to monitor picket lines.<\/p>\n

Stagecoach insisted it had simply advised employees that any industrial action “should be carried out peacefully and within the law”.<\/p>\n

In April Unite said it would consider legal action against Stagecoach<\/a> after the company said it would cancel bus drivers’ holiday dates during planned strikes.<\/p>\n

The threat was later dropped due to talks resuming<\/a> in an attempt to solve the dispute. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Jamie<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

This is a local dispute of national significance.<\/p>\n

It is a confrontation between a major trade union and part of a transport giant. <\/p>\n

For both sides, there are high stakes.<\/p>\n

Three one day strikes over the past fortnight have not brought a resolution to the pay row.<\/p>\n

Moving towards six weeks of continuous strike action is a big escalation and represents the kind of industrial action which is now relativity unusual.<\/p>\n

It represents a willingness by the workers to make a big sacrifice in their battle for a better pay offer. <\/p>\n

Unite the Union is prepared to support them through any hardship.<\/p>\n

But will support for the strike be maintained? <\/p>\n

How will Stagecoach and its customers respond to ongoing disruption?<\/p>\n

Generally industrial disputes are settled by compromise. <\/p>\n

Neither side gets everything they want.<\/p>\n

However those compromises usually require one side to blink first.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getty Images Stagecoach will operate a limited service in Ayrshire and Arran during the dispute Bus drivers in the West of Scotland are beginning a six week strike against their employers in an escalation of an ongoing pay dispute. More than 400 Stagecoach drivers at depots in Ayr, Arran, Ardrossan and Kilmarnock will not return […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[976,1768,819,1538,10216,839,145],"class_list":["post-30665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-scotland","tag-dispute","tag-drivers","tag-pay","tag-rolls","tag-stagecoach","tag-strike","tag-week"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30665"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30667,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30665\/revisions\/30667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}