Around 3,000 West Midlands bus drivers at listed transport group National Express are set to be balloted for strike action. The threat of potential industrial action comes after members of the Unite trade union last week rejected an eight per cent pay offer from the Birmingham-headquartered group by 96 per cent.
Unite said some of the drivers earn £11.80 per hour at National Express which posted £15.8 million in profit during the first half of 2022.
The union claims National Express insists its pay offer is worth 14 per cent but Unite has rejected the Digbeth company's calculations because they include changes to hourly wages already made in 2022.
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If the drivers go on strike, National Express services in Birmingham, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Coventry, West Bromwich and elsewhere in the region could be severely affected. A date for the ballot is yet to be announced.
Regional officer Sulinder Singh said: "Our members aren't fooled by National Express' number fudging.
"They know perfectly well that the offer put in front of them equates to eight per cent, not the 14 per cent the company is disingenuously claiming.
"National Express can well afford to table an offer that reflects the soaring cost of living and needs to do so. Unite is now preparing to begin formal industrial action proceedings for our bus driver members at the company."
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Around 200 engineers, responsible for the transport group's fleet of over 1,200 buses covering 93 per cent of the West Midlands bus network, will finish voting on whether to strike on Wednesday.
They are also unhappy with the pay offer put to them by National Express, according to Unite.
This latest announcement adds to the raft of strikes which have taken place in recent months including among train drivers and staff, postal workers, NHS staff and employees on the West Midlands Metro tram network.
National Express said in a statement: "We have offered our drivers an average rate increase of 14 per cent from January of last year, increasing the rate for most drivers to £15.57 an hour if they accept our offer.
"A driver working 38 hours a week would earn over £30,000 a year and even more with overtime. We know times are tough for everyone but we believe that this is a fair and responsible offer.
"It is fair because it recognises the impact of inflation and it is responsible because it will enable us to continue to provide vital services to the public."