North Wales Arriva bus services resume after strike action suspended
Arriva Bus Services will resume in north Wales from Friday as strike action has been suspended.
Arriva confirmed that operations would resume in north Wales and Chester from the first scheduled bus on Friday, November 19 following further talks with the trade union, Unite.
The company did however warn that early morning services could still experience some "disruption" as it mobilised its operations overnight.
A spokesperson for Arriva Buses Wales said: "This is good news for our customers in North Wales and Chester and we are pleased that ongoing discussions this week have seen both parties committed to finding a way forward so that services could resume”.
Hundreds of bus drivers across north Wales took strike action from Sunday November 14 for a "fair pay deal".
Unite the Union said members had voted for action due to a current pay differential of £1.81 an hour between Welsh and North West Arriva drivers.
The union said 95% of balloted staff members voted for industrial action, with Welsh workers offered a 29p hourly increase compared with 39p for drivers employed by North West Arriva.
Drivers working at depots including Amlwch, Bangor, Llandudno, Rhyl and Wrexham all took part in the strike.
Martin Murphy, from Bangor Arriva Depot believed Welsh drivers were being undervalued by the company.
He said: "It's only fair - we do the same job, it's the same company. You can't treat our North West colleagues differently.
"We don't want to upset passengers, they pay our wages. We will go back to work tomorrow as soon as they put a decent offer on the table."
In a statement on social media, Unite the Union confirmed that the strike had been suspended following talks with the company.
It read: "Following talks with @arrivabuswales today, the company have now presented a new and improved pay offer."We will therefore be suspending strike action across North Wales and will be balloting our members on the new offer."