First Bus strikes escalate in Portsmouth area with directors branded "stroppy children" - list of strike dates
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Members of the Unite Union across Portsmouth and Hampshire will be walking out across this month and the next amid stalling pay talks. Over 140 drivers and supervisors based at the Hoeford depot in Gosport Road, Fareham, will be joining the picket line.
Services across Portsmouth, Gosport, Fareham and into Southampton will be affected. The union said staff are being paid barely above the minimum wage for a skilled and stressful job. No agreements were reached after talks stalled in December.
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Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “First Group is making millions of pounds of profit across the UK on public transport yet is treating its workers and the communities they come from in Hampshire with disdain. To pay barely above the minimum wage for a skilled and high-pressure job is utterly unacceptable and our members at First have the full support of Unite in their dispute.”
Strikes will take place every weekend in January, as well as on February 2-9, 12-14, 16-23 and 25-27. This is expected to cause significant disruption to passengers, with a minimum bus service being operated.
Unite said workers were offered a two year pay deal with a 4.8 per cent in the first year, which was rejected in a workplace ballot - terms and conditions removed during the Covid-19 pandemic are not planned to be reinstated.
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Hide AdThey also claim directors at First are refusing to meet again with the union, who stated union efforts were “futile” as there is “no more money”. First Group had national revenues of nearly £5bn in 2023, with First Hampshire & Dorset holding a turnover of nearly £37m.


Unite regional officer Ian Woodland said: “First Bus are acting like stroppy children and refusing to even meet with Unite for talks. They are trying to claim there is no money while everyone can read their accounts and see just how much their directors earn. This dispute is causing huge disruption throughout Hampshire but it is entirely of of First Bus’ own making. It can resolve the dispute by coming back to the table with an offer acceptable to our members.”
A First Bus Solent spokesperson said: “It is extremely disappointing to see Unite have decided to cause further unnecessary disruption by announcing new strike dates in February. We are sorry for the disruption this action will cause our customers, who ultimately are the ones who will suffer.
“We want to resolve this dispute, our door remains open, and we have invited them back to negotiations. We have asked Unite to explore different options with us, as we have been clear that financially we cannot go beyond our final no strings offer of 7.8 per cent over two years (including other enhancements). This is a 35.9 per cent pay increase since 2021.
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Hide Ad“Unfortunately, they have ignored this offer to further explore different options and instead announced further action. Over the last two weekends of strike action, while regrettably not running as many services as usual due to strike action, we have still been able to maintain a core network and have been pleased to see a growing number of staff choosing to report for work, meaning we have been able to run more services than expected throughout the strike, limiting disruption, and we expect this to continue. We will also continue to use staff from other areas to keep as many services running as possible.”
Stagecoach services are unaffected by the strike action.
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