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BUS services across north London are set to face major disruption next month Arriva drivers prepare for all-out strike action against plummeting take-home pay.
More than 2,000 workers will withdraw their labour from Tuesday October 4 until the dispute is resolved, Unite warned.
The drivers are seeking a wage boost in line with the retail price index inflation rate, which is currently at an eye-watering 12.3 per cent.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members at Arriva have generated huge profits for the company for decades.
“[The firm] can afford to offer a pay increase that meets the real rate of inflation, but it has put profits before people and declined to do so.”
The union stressed that its members, many of whom are being forced to live outside of the capital due to low wages and soaring living costs, are “angry that they are unable to keep their heads above water and meet the financial needs of their families.”
Arriva is owned by Deutsche Bahn, one of the world’s largest transport companies, which is effectively owned by the German government.
Its British bus division has paid out £560 million in profit transfers over the last decade, according to Unite.
Arriva London bus operations director Alex Jones claimed bosses had offered a salary rise “far higher than most workers are receiving at a time of considerable economic pressure.”
He added: “Any pay settlement must be affordable and strike action is counter-productive, harms the communities we serve and damages bus travel at a time when we should all be focused on recovery from the pandemic.”
Drivers from eight depots — Ash Grove, Barking, Clapton, Edmonton, Enfield, Palmers Green, Tottenham and Wood Green — will walk out.
