Go North East bus strike: 'It's hard' says striking bus driver as pay dispute continues

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A bus driver on strike as part of an industrial dispute over pay has said she regularly stays with her parents to try and save money on gas and electric.

Go North East workers have been on indefinite strike since 28 October in a dispute over pay.

Strikers took part in a march of solidarity at the Go North East depot in Gateshead on Friday 10 November.

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Members of the union Unite rejected a pay rise of 10.3%, which Go North East said would have made them the best-paid drivers in the region.

Workers are angry their pay does not match that of drivers for Go North West.

Sharon Gray, bus driver and union representative, said she was seeing her household bills and mortgage going up - but her wages are not keeping up.

Sharon Gray is one of the striking Go North East workers. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

She said: "A couple of times a week I actually stay at my parents' house so I'm not using my electric and my gas as much, so I can reduce that.

"It is hard and I am aware of colleagues that have actually had to use food banks because the pay is that low. All the household bills have gone up and the pay is just not matching it at all."

The industrial action means the company is running no buses apart from school transport and hospital shuttles, disrupting travel for thousands of customers.

'Not acceptable'

Sharon Graham, General Secretary of Unite, said: "Well the difficulty we have is these workers have families, these workers have children, Christmas is coming up, they don’t want to be out here.

"They want to be back at work. They want to be serving their community. It is totally abhorrent to me that you can have these drivers on £12.83 and in the North West, for the same company, they’re paying £15.35.

"Are these drivers second class citizens? Are people in the North East treated differently because they’re from the North East? That’s just not acceptable."

Strikers on the picket line in Gateshead. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

Ben Maxfield, business director for Go North East, said: "It’s the best paid in the North East.

"Whether they’re paid differently to drivers in the North West, that is true, they are paid different wages, but they’re also on very different terms and conditions and we’ve actually discussed with Unite the idea of Go North West terms and conditions and they’ve been very clear with us that they don’t want to discuss that as part of these negotiations."

Mr Maxfield said the offered pay rise would take drivers to £14.15 an hour and said the company had committed to a pay rise in line with RPI next year.

The company has claimed a survey it commissioned shows seven in 10 people think the 10.3% rise is a fair offer.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) also waded into the dispute this week.

Head Paul Nowak, who has written to the managing director of Go North East to call for immediate action, joined striking workers on the picket line.

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