Bus strikes begin as hundreds walk out over pay

Unite members are striking over pay which they say does not reflect responsibilities of the job

Hundreds of bus workers are on strike in a row over pay.

Nearly 600 Unite the Union members at Stagecoach North East in Newcastle, Sunderland and South Shields have walked out as part of the first of two days of industrial action.

Services operated by the firm are expected to be disrupted as drivers, cleaners and engineers take to the picket line after rejecting a 5% pay rise offer. Another strike is planned for Thursday.

Stagecoach North East managing director Steve Walker said staff had been brought in from as far away as south Wales to help run services. Unite said the "below inflation" offer did not reflect the responsibilities of the job.

Some passengers told BBC Radio Newcastle the strike action was a "disgrace" due to the school holidays and vulnerable people's reliance of the services.

However, David Ord, a bus driver at Slatyford, Newcastle, who was part of the picket line outside Stagecoach's depot in Walkergate, said the below minimum pay offer had left everybody with "no redress but to go on strike".

Bus driver David Ord says drivers are abused by some passengers

He said he previously left the job after he was "spat on" but had returned for personal reasons.

"We are under a lot of stress, we work unsociable hours, anything from 03:00 to 01:00 the following morning," he added.

"We do 12-hour shifts, we have unruly passengers, we get assaulted, abused."

Union members previously voted to strike on 11 and 12 August after workers rejected an initial 3.3% increase, but this was later suspended after the company tabled an improved offer.

If accepted it would have seen staff receive a 3.3% rise backdated to April and a further 1.7% added to pay from January, however it was rejected.

Unite said drivers working for Stagecoach in Manchester earned £17.54 an hour but those working in the North East were paid £15.01.

Regional officer Dave Telford said it was not fair his members were paid less than colleagues elsewhere.

Stagecoach North East managing director Steve Walker says Newcastle's drivers are "already the highest paid in the region"

Stagecoach North East managing director Steve Walker said he wanted to work with Unite to avoid the next strike on Thursday.

"We have been trying to reach an agreement with Unite, playing about with different offers to try and appease the requests and the demands," he added.

Mr Walker said the company's Newcastle drivers were "already the highest paid in the region" and further pay increases would see "additional costs passed on to customers".