Bus strike Sheffield: Stagecoach say Unite union ‘unreasonable’ as action set to start on Sunday

The company says talks continued today with a new offer put the the union Unite, which was rejected, so the week-long strike is set to start across its fleet in the city on Sunday morning.

Phil Medlicott, managing director for Stagecoach Yorkshire, said: “Today we’ve had discussions with Unite union to put forward a further offer to reach a settlement to end the strikes affecting bus services in South Yorkshire. Unfortunately this offer has been rejected and strikes will now go ahead.

“We know that our employees deserve a good pay rise and have now offered employees an increase to the hourly pay rate of six per cent with a further three per cent in the next six months, a total offer of nine per cent on the current pay rate within six months.

"We feel that this is more than fair and that Unite union is now being unreasonable by not taking this offer back to members to vote upon. Strike action is in no-body's interests.

“We remain open to continuing discussions with the union and would urge them to call off this unnecessary action which will cause untold inconvenience to local communities and will hit the pockets of our employees and their families.”

Unite has been approached for comment.

Unite regional officer Phil Bown said earlier this week: “Bus workers were rightly hailed as heroes during successive lockdowns. However, warm words do not pay the bills and Stagecoach needs to reward its workers' dedication with a decent pay award.”

If no resolution is found, the strike will run from Sunday November 28 until Sunday December 5 for Sheffield drivers and engineers, covering most services in the city.

Bus services run by First South Yorkshire will continue to run as normal.

Some Stagecoach vehicles will still be seen on the roads, as some services which go through the city are run by depots which are not involved in the action, such as Chesterfield, where an agreement on pay was reached earlier this year.

The supertram system, which is also run by Stagecoach, will also continue to run and is unaffected by the strike.