Strikes by 600 bus drivers at First West of England over the next two weeks have been called off after the workers accepted a new pay deal.

They will receive an increase from £16 an hour to £16.50 backdated to 1 April. This goes up to £17 an hour backdated to 28 September then workers will have another rise to £17.40 an hour from 1 April 2025. This works out as an 8.6 per cent  pay increase over two years.

A major source of contention throughout the pay dispute was First West of England not committing to paying drivers backpay. To address this, workers at the City Line will get £250 non-consolidated backpay and their rest day working has gone up by 50p to £1.51 per hour.

Drivers at the City Line had previously walked out from 19 to 22 September, causing mass disruption to inner city services in Bristol.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Bus drivers do a difficult, important job for the general public and deserve to be paid appropriately.

“This is a fantastic win for workers at First West of England, who stuck firmly together throughout the industrial action to get the pay offer they deserved. It is yet more proof that there is power in a union.”

The bus drivers work for the Lawrence Hill and Hengrove Bus depots, which service Bristol city centre, Bristol Airport and Amazon’s Bristol warehouse and local schools and universities. They had previously walked out as pay offers had not gone far enough to address issues with low pay.

Unite regional officer Amy Roberts said: “We are very pleased with the outcome of this industrial action, as it has led to a fantastic new deal for the bus drivers, who do a very hard job.

“In particular, the issue of backpay had been a problem and Unite is very happy to have resolved this for our members at First West of England.

“It shows that if you want improved pay, you should join Unite and ask your colleagues to join too."

ENDS

Notes to editors

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