Engineers at transport group National Express have voted in favour of strikes just days after the news that around 3,000 drivers were also to be balloted over industrial action.
Around 200 of the Birmingham-based firm's engineers have voted by 93 per cent from a turnout of 80 per cent to strike over pay, according to trade union Unite.
The engineers are responsible for maintaining 1,200 vehicles which together cover 93 per cent of the region's bus network. National Express' coach service is unaffected by this vote.
Unite said its members had rejected a pay offer of 10.1 per cent from the listed company which made £15.8 million in profits during the first half of 2022.
Sign up for your free West Midlands newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn
Email newsletters
BusinessLive is your home for business news from across the West Midlands including Birmingham, the Black Country, Solihull, Coventry and Staffordshire.
Click through here to sign up for our email newsletter and also view the broad range of other bulletins we offer including weekly sector-specific updates.
We will also send out 'Breaking News' emails for any stories which must be seen right away.
For all the latest stories, views and polls, follow our
The union said that offer was a pay cut when set against the annual Retail Price Index inflation rate of 13.4 per cent in December.
General secretary Sharon Graham said: "Despite its healthy profits, National Express expects the people who generated its cash stockpile to accept de-facto pay cuts. National Express needs to improve their unacceptable pay offer. National Express' West Midlands engineers have their union's full backing in striking."
Unite said the strikes would severely affect services in Birmingham, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Coventry, West Bromwich and elsewhere in the region. Dates for the days of industrial action will be announced in the coming weeks.
Most Read
Earlier this week, Unite announced that around 3,000 National Express bus drivers in the West Midlands would now be subject to a separate ballet related to their pay offer of eight per cent.
Regional officer Sulinder Singh said: "The significant disruption that will be caused to passengers is entirely the fault of National Express' greed.
"That disruption will only intensify if drivers also strike. The company needs to get round the negotiating table and put forward an offer our members can accept."
National Express West Midlands said in a statement: "We have offered our bus engineers in the West Midlands, for whom the average salary is £37,000, a double digit percentage pay increase.
"We understand and recognise the financial pressures on everyone but we take our responsibility to run a sustainable network very seriously. We care deeply about the communities we serve.
"When we know the strike dates, we will communicate with our customers and seek to minimise the disruption in any way we can."