Bus disruption warning due to strike action

First Bus Solent said Monday to Friday services will operate as normal

Bus drivers and supervisors are set to take weekend strike action in a dispute about pay.

More than 140 members of Unite the Union in Southampton have confirmed they intend to take industrial action on the weekends of 11-12, 18-19 and 25-26 January.

First Bus Solent said Monday to Friday services would operate as normal but some weekend services would be impacted.

Unite the Union said its members were left with "little choice" as they were yet to see an "acceptable" pay offer.

Services around Fareham, Gosport, Portsmouth and Southsea are likely to be impacted by the strikes.

Passengers have been advised to check their journey ahead of travel.

The latest action follows walkouts by workers based at the Hoeford depot in December.

Unite regional officer Ian Woodland said First Bus was refusing to budge with its pay offer and its members had been left with "little choice but to take to the picket line".

He continued: "Our members have yet to see an offer that they feel is acceptable.

"First Bus are trying to force through a two-year pay deal when economic uncertainty over things like inflation means this ties workers to a deal that might be close to worthless in 12 months time."

'Unnecessary action'

A spokesperson from First Bus Solent apologised for the disruption caused by what it called "unnecessary action".

They said: "Throughout this extensive negotiation process, we have listened to Unite member feedback and made a number of offers in order to try and settle this dispute, to ensure customers are not affected by strike action.

"We have been open with Unite that we could not go beyond our final no-strings offer of 7.8% over two years (including other enhancements).

"To be clear, this represents a 35.9% pay increase since 2021."

The spokesperson added the firm would use staff from other areas to keep "as many services running as possible".