Stagecoach Highlands bus drivers secure wage win ending strike threat
Bus drivers have dropped a threat to strike after agreeing a pay deal.
Around 200 Stagecoach drivers across the Highlands and Islands had indicated industrial action could have started this month, if the pay offer wasn’t improved.
However, Unite the union outlined an agreed deal drivers will receive a basic pay rise of around 7.5 per cent for the current year running from July 2024. The driver hourly rate will increase by a minimum of two per cent or the rate of inflation in July 2025. Overtime rates will also rise from £16.50 to £17.50 in the second year of the deal.
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The union says the deal ensures that the minimum hourly rate will amount to the real living wage plus an additional three per cent.
It means the minimum hourly rate increases from the current £12.98 to £14.28 in July 2025, which is the equivalent to a rise of over 10 per cent.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite has successfully negotiated a pay deal at Stagecoach Highlands. Our members stood firm, and they were prepared to take strike action to get a better deal.
“Unite is once again, driving up jobs, pay and conditions across the bus industry in Scotland.”
Stagecoach Highlands, which is based in Inverness, provides bus services in Inverness and surrounding areas, as well as Skye and Orkney.
Marc Jackson, Unite industrial officer, said: “Through negotiations and our mandate for industrial action, we have shifted the company significantly from its original offer. Strike action has been avoided but this pay dispute should send a warning to the company that in the future they can’t take their workers for granted and they must be properly valued.”
