Cheshire bus engineers set to strike over pay dispute

16 November 2005

Bus engineers working at First Bus in Cheshire, are to commence 24 hour strikes, on Friday 18th November, Tuesday 22nd November and Friday 25th and an overtime ban began yesterday (Tuesday 15th November).

Members of Amicus trade union at First Bus in Wirral and Chester are striking after rejecting a pay deal they say leaves them lagging behind employees working in similar roles in other local companies.

Amicus says it welcomes a very recent suggestion from the company to involve ACAS to resolve the matter but feels this might not be enough to avoid industrial action.

Amicus Regional Officer Lawrence Chapple-Gill said:

"We regret having to take this action further but we strongly believe our members deserve a fair pay deal.

The company should reflect that not only engineers in Amicus are resorting to industrial action but also drivers in T&GWU are taking strike action in November."

Amicus members at First Bus in Cheshire voted early in September to take industrial action after rejecting a pay offer of 4% from April and extra 1.5% from October, then 3.5% from April 2006.