Police called out as buses 'blocked' from leaving depot in National Express West Midlands strike

Police have been called to picket lines as buses were allegedly stopped from leaving garages during the National Express West Midlands strike action.

The operator says this has caused further disruption to the bus network in Coventry and Birmingham at a time when services are already severely limited.

National Express says it has committed to running every bus it possibly can during the strikes, managing to get more than 90 buses on the road on the first day of the strike.

However, a skeleton service is running, with buses primarily serving the region’s major hospitals.

The operator says applications to work as a bus driver at National Express West Midlands have more than doubled since the bus strikes were announced. 

In an average week the bus operator receives 140 applications a week but in the last week - since the strikes were announced - there has been a record 393 applications.

How are the National Express West Midlands bus strikes impacting people?

Raychel Hetherington says she had to cancel her 12-year-old son's hospital appointment due to the strike. Her son, Jared, has severe mental impairment sotos syndrome, non-verbal autism and epilepsy scoliosis.

Raychel said: "I cannot get my son to hospital. We’ve had to cancel the appointment because we can’t get there.

"The hospital has moved us till next week. We use the bus because my son loves to look out the window and I don’t drive with the cost of living.

"He has severe special-needs. The impact of the buses going on strike has hindered our lives. We can’t go food shopping because he's got mobility issues and can’t walk that far. It’s a joke."

Joanne Wilkinson, who works for the NHS said: "It is costing £25-£30 a day which in unsustainable in the long term. With no end date in sight. Although they have provided buses to hospitals.

"I work at QE and it amounts to one bus rather than the nine that serve QE. In a cost of living crisis this affects the people struggling the most."

Another person took to social media saying: "The strikes have essentially put me into lockdown again.

"Due to ill health I rely on public transport to get to work, and while I can work remotely, it's not great for mental health when it will be three days in a row without seeing another soul."

Ruth Knight said: "I work as a manager of a charity shop in Dudley and our takings have more than halved foot fall is awful.

"We have no volunteers in and I’m having to pick staff up so we can open the shop.

"It’s really affecting business my shop has been so quiet this week. And getting to work is a pain."

Another person wrote: "Missed a days work on Tuesday because of no bus service between Aldridge and Birmingham."

Sarah Dyas said: "My daughter hasn't been able to get to college because we have no buses and the college has had to revert to online learning because it's affecting so many students.

"My other daughter has to leave nearly an hour earlier in a morning to attend school in the middle of Birmingham.

"We found another bus that runs at 7am which is costing more because she can't use her student bus pass. I really hope things get back to normal soon."

For others it has raised crucial questions, with one person asking: "My disabled flatmate and I would like to know when we can get to the shops?

"National Express buses are all we get normally, even though the hospital bus (currently cancelled) isn't that reliable at the best of times."

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Our members are rock solid in their determination to win a pay rise that reflects the difficulty of their roles and soaring living costs. They know that National Express can absolutely afford to pay it. 

"The company’s bully boy tactics to break the strike will only result in worsening the dispute and Unite will make sure National Express is held fully accountable for any intimidation of our members.

"There is only one way to end this: National Express must put forward an offer that is acceptable to our members."

The union continued: "As well as misusing the police service and issuing job and route threats, fresh reports have also emerged of: workers being told they will be barred from overtime in the future because they went on strike and workers who are not taking strike action have also been told they will face disciplinary action if they refuse to cross a picket line."

A National Express West Midlands spokesperson said: “We are grateful to the Police for their support this morning. 

“We fully respect the rights of bus drivers to withdraw their labour and picket their workplace, but they should not be blocking buses from departing garages.

“The people of the West Midlands are being disrupted enough by these strikes, but to prevent even a skeleton service is completely unacceptable.

“We are in dialogue with the union about our offer of a 14.3% pay increase to our drivers, which, at £16.46 an hour, would take the typical driver to £33,000 a year, and our door remains open for talks.

"We want to reassure our customers we are doing all we can to resolve this issue."