Cardiff Bus staff to take industrial action in pay row

Cardiff Bus workers are to take industrial action in a row over pay.

Unite members, including drivers, will take part in a series of one-day strikes, starting on September 2, following a ballot of members.

A 3% pay rise, back-dated to April, followed by a 2% increase in 2016, has been accepted by some Unison members.

Unite Wales called on Cardiff Bus to "stop the misleading media spin and negotiate", while the firm said the situation was "disappointing".

The union said workers had "overwhelmingly rejected" the pay offer.

It announced that more than 540 Unite members at Cardiff Bus would be involved in 10 strikes spread over a seven-week period.

'Very angry'

Alan McCarthy, Unite regional industrial organiser, said: "We are extremely disappointed that Cardiff Bus has proceeded with a media offensive against its own workers rather than putting its efforts into preventing this looming dispute."

He said workers are "very angry" at the company's "intransigence" with regards to its pay offer.

Cynthia Ogbonna, of Cardiff Bus, said: "It's disappointing some of our staff don't think a 5% pay rise is enough.

"We believe we have made an excellent offer, which was accepted by our Unison members in July, but Unite has held out for more money, which we simply do not have."