First Bus has announced a continuation of its strike in Bristol, adding 14 more days of disruption over a pay dispute.

Bristol will once again be brought to a standstill as over 600 drivers at First West of England’s City Line (Lawrence Hill and Hengrove depots) voted to take 14 days of fresh action strike from October 1 to 14.

This decision follows after broke down between First West of England, part of First Bus, and the union. Given the number of drivers involved and the length of the second wave of strikes, this will be extremely disruptive with many cancellations and delays to services expected.

The drivers are currently striking this week since Tuesday, with the last day being tomorrow (September 19), when workers from both depots will come together in a demo at Broad Quay near the Hippodrome in Bristol, from 10am to 4pm.

According to Unite, workers at City Line “have struggled with historic low pay and believe the current offer fails to address the rising cost of living and the difficult job they do, which often has long hours and puts them at risk of assault from the general public.

“Meanwhile, First Group PLC had an operating profit of £204.3m and share dividends were increased by 45 per cent compared to the previous year.”

Bristol will once again be brought to a standstill as over 600 drivers at First West of England’s City Line (Lawrence Hill and Hengrove depots) voted to take 14 days of fresh action strike from October 1 to 14. | Bristol City Council

placeholder image — Bristol will once again be brought to a standstill as over 600 drivers at First West of England’s City Line (Lawrence Hill and Hengrove depots) voted to take 14 days of fresh action strike from October 1 to 14. | Bristol City Council

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "First Bus is a very profitable firm, but its hardworking workers are struggling to pay the bills – the situation is deplorable and it is little wonder they have voted to take further industrial action.

"This dispute has been entirely the fault of the employer who has put profits over people throughout. We will support the affected members every step of the way throughout this dispute."

One worker said: "I am paying over half of my wages on rent alone and have absolutely no savings. I can't even afford to pay into my pension because it's just costing me so much to live right now in Bristol. All I want is a wage rise that reflects the real world.

"The company has to work with us drivers. We do a really hard job, we face a lot of dangers and we have to protect our passengers so we're constantly on high alert. We also get abused from time to time and we don't get supported in that."

Another said: "We are striking for better pay because we don’t believe the company’s offer is fair and reasonable. We believe we are worth more than it has offered us.

“We often suffer abuse and rudeness while driving the buses. Spitting happens and the company gives you barely any support when you’ve been abused.”

Unite regional officer Amy Roberts said: "Unite has attempted to negotiate with First West of England in good faith, but it has been unwilling to come back to the table.

"We appreciate the strikes have been very disruptive, especially for those making essential journeys, but drivers have felt no choice but to extend the industrial action given the way they have been treated by First West of England.

"These workers do a difficult, essential job and deserve to be paid fairly. First West of England has a chance to stop further disruption, but must come back to the table with a fair offer to do so."