City Bus Drivers Vote To Strike Over Pay

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Chloe AslettYorkshire


Bus services in Doncaster are because of be interrupted after more than 230 chauffeurs voted to take industrial action over pay.


First Bus chauffeurs in the city will go on strike on 28 and 30 March, and 7, 22 and 24 April after turning down a deal which did not offer them pay parity with colleagues in Sheffield, the Unite union said.


Unite basic secretary Sharon Graham stated the business could manage to pay its motorists in Doncaster the very same amount and was "selecting to put revenues over people".


Zoe Hands, managing director of First Bus in the region, said the offer of a 7% rise backdated to January 2026 was "among the very best chauffeur pay offers this year".


"We are very disappointed and saddened at the choice to proceed with strikes," she stated, adding that the company "acknowledged the strength of feeling" on the issue.


"We stay dedicated to working constructively with Union representatives to reach a fair and sustainable contract," Hands said.


"Our door stays available to continue conversations and avoid unneeded industrial action."


'Unfair circumstance'


The Unite members included in the disagreement work at the Depot on Leger Way, which operates numerous paths affecting the city centre.


The dates clash with the Easter vacations and occasions at Doncaster Racecourse including the opener of the British flat racing season, the William Hill Lincoln Handicap.


Regional officer Christian Ratcliffe said: "Unite members in Doncaster must not be financially punished for working a couple of miles down the roadway.


"This unjust scenario can't continue and Unite is requiring First Bus treats its hard-working drivers relatively."


Unite stated FirstGroup was "highly rewarding", with profits of ₤ 833.6 m for the six months to September 2025, and might afford to satisfy the strikers' needs.


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