London(UK)- More than 1,600 London bus drivers, are set to take strike action later this month in a dispute over pay.
Members of Unite employed by London United will walk out on August 19 and 20, the same days as strikes on London Underground and the railways.
The union said strike action resulted from the company offering a pay increase of 3.6% in 2022 and 4.2% next year, which it described as a real terms pay cut because of the soaring inflation rate.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The parent company RATP is fabulously wealthy, and it can fully afford to pay our members a decent wage increase.
“Unite’s members play a crucial role in keeping London moving, and they will not accept seeing their pay constantly eroded.
“Unite does what it says on the trade union tin and always defends its members’ jobs, pay and conditions.
“Our members at London United will receive the union’s complete support until this dispute is resolved and a fair pay offer secured.”
Travel chaos has already punctuated Britain’s summer — holidaymakers sleeping on airport floors, motorways jam-packed with cars in the sweltering heat and repeated strikes on the rail network.
Staff have held walkouts across the country, including on the London Underground, in an ongoing dispute over pay and jobs. With the UK heading toward double-digit inflation, unions argue that their members should not have to stomach real-term pay cuts. They are also wary of plans to reform services and working patterns to adapt to changes in travel habits following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Relations between bosses and unions have soured, with Conservative ministers also weighing in. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps accused unions in June of pursuing “some sort of class war,” and at the end of July said they were exploiting “archaic rules from 1919” to discourage staff from working on Sundays. Labour groups have repeatedly accused the government and train companies of lying about stalled negotiations and claims of informal strikes.