Go North East bus services hit by 'continuous' strike action

Bus workers are going on strike indefinitely after rejecting their latest pay offer.

Workers at all Go North East depots are taking part in all-out continuous strike action from 28 October.

Go North East said their latest pay offer would have seen more than 1,000 workers receive a 10% pay rise, backdated to 1 July.

Unite regional officer Dave Telford said: “Our members don’t want to strike but are being forced to take this action by an employer who refuses to deliver on fair pay. Our door remains open for a new offer and Go North East needs to come back to the table.”

Go North East said their latest pay offer would have seen more than 1,000 workers receive a 10% pay rise, backdated to 1 July.

Go North East business director Ben Maxfield said Unite had shown "no consideration" of the impact on the travelling public and accused the union of rejecting a pay offer they had themselves proposed.

He added: “I deeply apologise to everyone in the region who will be affected by Unite's strike. Rest assured that we will continue to work towards the quickest solution possible.”

The union Unite said 1,300 members have already been on strike this month, with a further week of action due to start on Saturday 14 October.

Striking workers include bus drivers, engineers, maintenance workers and depot crews.

Depots affected are in Consett, Gateshead, Hexham, Percy Main (North Shields), Sunderland and Washington.

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