Go North East bus strike suspended as members set to vote on pay offer

Around 150 bus engineers from Go North East were due to strike between December 19-25 in a dispute over pay.

However, following constructive talks between Go North East and the Unite Union, the strikes have been suspended while members vote on accepting a revised pay offer within "the next few days".

The union had previously rejected a 10% pay increase, claiming it was a real-terms pay cut.

Go North East managing director Nigel Featham said, “I am pleased to say that talks with Unite proved productive. We have made a fresh offer, which remains within our budgets and is one I believe all parties can confidently get behind.

“We were always confident that passengers would not have been impacted by the strike, but this takes away any threat of a disruption to bus services in the run up to Christmas”.

The strike action was set to disrupt bus routes operating from depots in Consett, Dunston, Gateshead, Hexham, North Shields, Sunderland and Washington in the lead up to Christmas.

Bus drivers at Stagecoach North East will walk out on strike after the GMB Union called industrial action on December 23, 24, 26 and 27.

Union members from Stagecoach North East rejected a pay offer which the firm says would have made Sunderland drivers the highest paid in the region.

Go North East runs a network of bus routes across the North East region including Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham and surrounding areas.