Abellio Bus (UNITE) Strike Calendar

Around 40 staff who work in the control rooms for Abellio buses and who control the bus routes, instruct drivers on traffic jams or accidents and ensure overall safety on the routes are to take six days of action beginning on Friday 19 January.

Control room staff, who use high-tech satellite GPS systems to monitor bus routes across London, have been offered just a five per cent pay increase for 2023 by Abellio, a substantial real terms pay cut. They already earn approximately £10,000 per year less than similar staff at other bus companies and have been offered a smaller pay increase than that offered to members doing the same job at competitor companies.

1. Over 1,800 workers secure 18 percent pay increase in London bus dispute.
2. The industrial dispute involving over 1,800 bus drivers employed by Abellio in London has ended after workers accepted a greatly improved pay offer.
3. Following a workplace ballot, the workers, who are members of Unite, have accepted a pay increase that will see drivers with over two years’ service being paid £18 an hour. This equates to a pay increase of 18 percent on the basic rate.
4. The agreement also includes increases to all rates including overtime and rest day working. Negotiations over the last few weeks also saw an increase to the rate for new starters, increased rates for Saturday/Sunday working. The union also won the £18 per hour for drivers who transferred to Abellio under TUPE legislation and had not previously been made the offer.
5. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PAY VICTORY. WORKERS HAVE STOOD FIRM AND WITH THE SUPPORT OF THEIR UNION, UNITE, THEY HAVE SECURED A RICHLY DESERVED PAY INCREASE."

• Strikes scheduled by bus drivers employed by Abellio in London are set to go ahead, in the long running pay dispute.
• The approximately 1,900 workers, who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, will stage further walkouts on 1, 2, 3 February. The dispute will primarily affect bus services in South and West London.
• The decision to go ahead with the strike action follows the rejection of two offers made by the employer, as they did not meet members’ expectations.
• Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Abellio is an incredibly wealthy company, whose success is based on the hard graft of its workers. It can fully afford to make a fair pay offer which meets our members’ expectations, but it has failed to do so.
• Abellio, the Dutch owned multi-national transport company, is hugely wealthy and recorded profits of £350 million in 2021.
• There have already been 20 days of industrial action in the dispute which began late last year.
• The industrial action affects workers based at garages in Battersea, Beddington, Hayes, Southall, Twickenham and Walworth.
• Unite regional officer Guy Langston said: “The forthcoming strike action will cause further severe disruption across London but this dispute is a direct result of the high handed and off-hand nature in which Abellio has conducted this dispute.”

Bus drivers in London employed by Abellio in south and west London will go on strike for 11 days in late December and throughout January, including on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, in a dispute over pay. The strikes are being organized by the Unite union, which represents 950 drivers, a number that has reportedly doubled in recent months. The drivers have already taken 10 days of strike action in recent months, and more strikes will be scheduled if the dispute is not resolved. The strikes are expected to cause disruption for travelers in south and west London, and authorities are encouraging people to plan ahead and check for updates before traveling. The union has accused the company of hoarding cash and imposing an unacceptable pay offer on its drivers.

Workers on Abellio buses in London are currently striking. The action was due to affect Metroline services as well, but these strikes were called off after a new pay offer was made, and accepted by Unite members. Routes affected by the strikes are mostly in west and south London. Workers already walked out on 9 and 10 December and will also strike on 16 and 17 December.