Dozens of bus services cancelled as drivers strike in pay dispute
More than 40 bus services have been cancelled across Ayrshire as bus drivers stage the first strike in six weeks of planned action over a pay dispute.
Bus operator Stagecoach apologised to passengers and listed 41 services which had been cancelled on Monday, with dozens more across the west of Scotland running to a limited timetable.
Stagecoach said the industrial action by more than 400 Unite members 'will disrupt our services and inconvenience our customers'.
❗❗ Service disruption due to industrial action Ayrshire ❗❗
We've made some additional changes to our #Arran #Cumnock #Stewarton and #Kilmarnock services in Ayrshire. Find out more here: https://t.co/OYrprJun0Q pic.twitter.com/sdMrxEmqZS
— Stagecoach West Scot (@StagecoachWScot) May 26, 2025
The firm added: 'We're working hard to minimise the impact of this disruption, but unfortunately, the limited services we're running will affect customers travelling in and around Ayrshire.
'We're very sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and understanding.'
Stagecoach said services in Ayrshire on Monday are being operated by drivers from other depots.
Monday's strike will be followed by two further strike days on June 2 and 6, and then six weeks of continuous action starting on June 9 and lasting until July 21.
Unite said previously around 430 Stagecoach drivers will take action after last minute pay talks did not lead to an improvement in an 'unacceptable' 4% pay offer previously rejected by members.
The union said buses operating out of several depots in Ayr, Arran, Ardrossan and Kilmarnock servicing bus routes in Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Glasgow, would be affected.
Siobhan McCready, Unite industrial officer, said: 'Stagecoach West Scotland have not improved their pay offer in six months.
'The drivers are being asked to fund a pay rise by working longer hours, taking longer unpaid breaks and losing a week of annual leave.
'This is simply unacceptable, and it will not be tolerated by Unite.'
She added: 'Widespread and prolonged industrial action is set to hit bus services across the west of Scotland because this company doesn't seem capable of listening to its workers.
'It's not right that the drivers are the lowest paid across the whole of the Stagecoach group.
'Our members deserve a fair rate and that's what we are determined to get for them.'
Unite said members voted by 98% to take industrial action after rejecting the 4% pay offer which was tabled in November.
A Stagecoach spokesperson previously said Ayrshire staff have rejected a two-year pay deal involving an increase to their hourly pay rate of 11.8%.
The spokesperson added: 'We urge Unite to reconsider its position and return to the negotiating table.
'Our commitment remains to reach a fair and sustainable agreement – one that supports our employees while ensuring the long-term viability of our services across west Scotland.'
The spokesperson added on Monday: 'Stagecoach is operating services across Ayrshire today, Monday May 26 on a reduced timetable, with some services unfortunately unable to operate due to industrial action.
'We're committed to keeping communities connected and apologise for any inconvenience caused.
'Customers are advised to check the latest updates on our website stagecoachbus.com/serviceupdates.
'Normal bus services in the region will resume on Tuesday May 27.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Poundland plots rent cuts in battle for survival
Poundland bosses are hatching a plan to enforce steep rent cuts on store landlords as part of a last-ditch bid for survival. The discount retailer has earmarked hundreds of stores for sharp rent reductions as its Polish parent company looks to persuade new owners to take the chain off its hands. An auction of Poundland has been whittled down to a shoot-out between the distressed investment funds Gordon Brothers and Hilco. The winning bidder will inherit a radical new turnaround plan drawn up by senior management, which proposes taking the axe to Poundland's sprawling estate of more than 800 stores. Between 150 and 200 have been singled out for imminent closure with as many as 500 more selected for swingeing rent bill decreases as bosses seek to dramatically rein in costs. Poundland employs 16,000 people. It is understood the company hopes to impose reductions on landlords of anywhere between 10pc and 50pc, while pulling out of scores of other sites via a court-sanctioned restructuring scheme. However, there is no guarantee that a judge will approve the proposal. A source familiar with the situation said any future decisions on rents would be for a potential new owner. Such extreme steps are usually attempted via an insolvency process known as a company voluntary arrangement in which landlords are handed a vote on any cost-cutting measures that will affect them. Barry Williams, the retailer's former managing director, was parachuted back on to the board at the beginning of the year to help address Poundland's spiralling crisis. Pepco crashed to a £548m loss in December after taking a £650m write-down on its UK operations. It blamed a 'significant decline in performance' as well as spiralling costs at Poundland for the setback. Under new owners, closures are expected to be accompanied by a huge cash injection as they seeks to turn around Poundland's dwindling fortunes. Prospective backers anticipate having to immediately pump in between £70m and £100m to stabilise the company. Those involved in the talks say Poundland's advisers at Teneo hoped to have entered exclusive talks with one of the remaining bidders this week. However, the timetable appears to have slipped, prompting speculation about whether investor appetite had waned as result of the funds needed to turn the retailer around and concerns over the complexity involved. There are also worries that trading at Poundland has continued to deteriorate, exacerbating its precarious situation. Last month, Pepco told investors not to expect 'major proceeds' from any sale of Poundland. It also warned that the chain might not make a profit in the forthcoming financial year. The business continued to face 'highly challenging trading conditions' in the six months to the end of March, it said. Like-for-like sales were down 7.3pc and pre-tax earnings slumped three quarters to €22m (£18.6m). A Pepco Group spokesman said: 'The focus of the group and advisers is currently on a potential sale of Poundland. This is an ongoing process and no final decisions have been taken.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Bank of England is 'not sanguine' about inflation hump, Greene says
DUBROVNIK, Croatia (Reuters) -The Bank of England still expects the ongoing rise in UK inflation to fade but is "not sanguine" about it after price growth proved more persistent than anticipated only a few years ago, BoE monetary policymaker Megan Greene said on Saturday. Britain suffered a bigger than expected inflation surge in April - even after taking out an error in the data - prompting investors to bet on the BoE slowing its already gradual pace of interest rate cuts. "Our view is that we can look through it, but of course there's a pretty big risk," Greene told a conference in Croatia. "The last time we had a lot of second round effects. We're hoping that we won't have second round effects this time around, but we're not sanguine about it." She argued the recent cost-of-living crisis, which saw inflation peak at 11.1% in 2022, might have made "people ... more sensitive to upticks in inflation and so that could feed through the wage-price behavior." Greene, an external member of the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee, voted last month with the majority for a quarter-point cut in rates to 4.25% and has said she was part of the group who might have voted to keep rates on hold if it hadn't been for U.S. tariffs. She reaffirmed on Saturday that private-sector pay growth was "way above what would be consistent with a 2% inflation target". "It's (going) in the right direction, it's just not going as quickly as I would like it to," she added. (Reporting By Francesco CanepaEditing by Tomasz Janowski and Mark Potter) Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Why Thomas Frank is exactly the right manager for Tottenham
It is the kind of story that has got around the Premier League, and explains why so many wealthy clubs have considered Thomas Frank. Earlier this season, the Brentford coach was having a chat with Fabian Hurzeler, and enthusing about Brighton's style of play. 'I'd love to play like this,' Frank said, before smiling. 'I'd need another £100m, though.' Advertisement If that sounds self-indulgent, and like a manager who can only play a certain way if he is given sufficient money, it isn't. It is really testament to the job he has done without money. After Brentford got promoted in 2020-21, they had by far the lowest wage bill in the Premier League for the next two seasons. Figures of £68m and £99m should have sent them straight back down, in a way we've seen with so many other promoted clubs. Frank instead established Brentford in the Premier League, making them a fixture. It's hardly as if other clubs are queuing up for their players, either, in the way they are with Bournemouth. He has made them so much better than the sum of their parts, and it is why Tottenham Hotspur are actively pursuing him. Analysis by Swiss Ramble shows that Brentford have been top of the league in terms of performance relative to wages for every single season they have been in the Premier League. That shows the scale of Frank's overperformance. It could be said this is merely a case of a manager perfectly fitting one club, as can happen. Except, Frank hasn't always had the same approach, or even the same kind of team. Brentford have gone through multiple different incarnations under the Dane, as a team and a club. Thomas Frank has consistently over-performed while Brentford manager (Zac Goodwin/PA) Premier League sporting directors see Frank as one of the most successfully adaptive coaches in the game. Some even feel the 51-year-old is not given anywhere near enough credit for that, a quality that become even more valuable in a football world that is moving away from dogmatic ideology. Frank's teams played in drastically different ways when Brentford were in the Championship, when they went up and then when they stayed up. Advertisement When he needs to play percentage football, he'll play percentage football. When he needs to break with pace, he'll break with pace. When he needs possession, he can do possession. There were even occasions in the past season when Brentford resembled Jack Charlton's Ireland for the way they constantly made defenders turn. That has fostered a view that he is 'unfairly pigeon-holed'. It is also why clubs like Tottenham have no concerns when they ask Frank how he would play at a higher level. Instead, just like those at Brighton, they are enthused by his response. He is persuasive. That is displayed in perhaps the most impressive aspect of this manager search. As recently as April, Frank was liked but not near the top of Spurs' list. Now, he's close to the job itself, having leapt ahead of so many other candidates. It is testament to a genuine charisma. Brentford consistently punch above their weight in the Premier League (Getty Images) That feeds into one of the most pertinent questions about Frank, which isn't how he'll play, which shouldn't be too much of a concern. It's how he'll manage a higher-paid dressing room. Advertisement This does matter, especially given the greater intensity that surrounds the better-supported clubs. The noise can take over, as Ange Postecoglou found. That can make it worse in a dressing room. As one insider from elite Premier League squads says: 'The reality is that high-level players can be pricks.' The window of acceptance for coaches is narrow and getting narrower. It's why coaches without track records at big clubs have to win straight away. Postecoglou essentially got two years at Spurs out of his successful first 10 games. While the decision to sack a Europa League winner seems emotionally harsh, the reality is that the nature of that cup run was too far removed from what you actually need for the Premier League. There was a logic to Spurs' decision. Put bluntly, Posteclou's side weren't playing Premier League-level opposition for most of it, and still compromised everything. It wasn't really a recipe for medium-term success, other than from the potential emotional fillip that could have created a momentum. Frank knows how fragile it can be to rely on such intangibles, having been at a club as scientific as Brentford. The substance to his own personality stands out all the more. Advertisement The Dane is described as a 'good human', something that isn't exactly said with great frequency in football. It might even be more valuable in a sport that has moved far away from the school of hard knocks, or even Jose Mourinho's 'confrontational leadership'. Frank is the frontrunner for the Spurs job (PA) A social media generation are now more likely to respond better to encouragement rather than excoriation. As a former teacher, Frank is highly attuned to the balance required there. It also makes him a far more rounded figure than most managers. That has another effect. In an era where tactics have become ever more detailed and sophisticated, many modern coaches almost need to be obsessives, and quite intense. They can be utterly tunnel-visioned. That doesn't always make for the most illuminating media appearances when they are thrown wider state-of-the-game or state-of-the-union questions in the way that Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson used to be. Advertisement Frank has no such problem with that. He is engaging to listen to, which is what his players warm to, too. That intelligence has almost made him the voice of the Premier League, and perhaps even the moral voice. Brentford might have just suffered a frustrating defeat to elite opposition, but Frank is still willing to expound on everything from the Club World Cup to financial disparity. That means much more than the relative superficiality of how he speaks to the media. It makes him a figurehead, something that Spurs have arguably never had greater need for. It's not just about that, though. Frank deserves his opportunity, and has proven he is capable of seizing such moments.
