MORE than 2,000 bus drivers and engineering staff working for Arriva North West in Bolton and 10 other depots will stage a series of one-day strikes in a dispute over pay.

Members of Unite will walk out on October 19, 23 and 30, after crisis talks over pay broke down, affecting services in Bolton as well as Birkenhead, Bootle, Macclesfield, Runcorn, St Helens, Speke, Southport, Winsford and Wythenshawe.

Unite regional officer Neil Clarke said: “Arriva is owned by the German transport giant Deutsche Bahn AG and has huge financial resources. All we are seeking is a fair and reasonable pay award against a backdrop of spiralling inflation and soaring living costs.

“Our members are fed up with pitiful pay offers and Arriva’s ‘pick and mix’ approach to wages where some depots get a pay rise and others don’t. This has resulted in wage inequality across a number of depots and is in stark contrast to the company’s claim to be an industry leader in the treatment of its workforce.

“We urge Arriva to put its money where its mouth is and stop treating its loyal workforce so abysmally and that it starts investing in the people who generate the wealth within the business.”

Picket lines will be assembling outside of all Arriva North West depots on the strike days.

Unite want the company to address wage inequality between depots, which they say can be as much as £1.73 an hour and could rise to £2 under Arriva’s latest pay offer.