First bus drivers to strike from Monday - travellers advised to plan alternative travel

A First bus leaving Rochdale Interchange

First Manchester is advising customers to plan alternative travel arrangements from Monday 3 July as industrial action set to take place at its Oldham depot means no services will operate.

Around 360 bus drivers employed by First Manchester will begin strike action on Monday (3 July) after they voted against a new offer that the union Unite says had ‘strings attached’.

Unite says First Manchester’s current offer is "split" so the drivers would receive approximately half the pay rise in April and half in October, with the company 'refusing to engage in pay negotiations that were supposed to begin earlier in the year and then offered a split payment in order to deny the workers full back pay.'

Tickets purchased on a strike day will not be refunded and customers are advised to check if a service is operating. Customers with pre-bought tickets for strike dates will be given a refund or replacement tickets to use for future travel.

School services are not affected and the Vantage V1 and V2 will also continue to operate along with the 184 Huddersfield-Oldham service. The school services are: 701, 705, 774, 775, 784, 788, 793, 794, 795, 812, 820, 821, 823, 825, 829, 830, 831, 835, 836, 837, 838, 841, 851, 861, 868, 871, 875, 879, 884, 887, 890, 891, 893, 894, S350, S84

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “First’s huge profits show that it does not need to engage in penny pinching by shaving the amount of back pay their drivers should receive. This 'strings attached' deal has caused more anger amongst a workforce that currently receives the lowest rates in the region. 

“Compounding the issue is the fact that the lower pay rates makes other companies more attractive places to work, resulting in staffing shortages and increased workloads. Unite’s members at First Manchester are right to take a stand and have their union’s total support.” 

Ian Humphreys, Managing Director of First Manchester, said: “I would like to apologise sincerely to all our customers in advance for the disruption and inconvenience this action will cause but want them to be aware of the situation so they can plan for journeys they have to make next week.

“We offered a generous pay increase of 15.2% which has been rejected and made every attempt to avoid industrial action, especially given the short notice this creates for our customers to make alternative travel arrangements.”

Full details of the impact on bus services can be found on a dedicated page of its website, which will be updated regularly and also has details of ticket refunds.

Customers are advised to follow its Twitter account @FirstMancester for the latest information as due to short notice changes the real-time information on the First Bus app and at bus stops may not be accurate.