Arriva bus strikes back on after workers vote to reject bosses’ offer

Drivers say they’re afraid of collapsing while driving in the extreme heat

Bus strikes in north and east London are back on next week. Workers refused to accept an offer proposed by Arriva North London bosses on Tuesday. 

The strikes involve over 1,500 drivers from eight bus garages. The Unite union members struck on Friday 14 August and again on Tuesday, in a dispute over intolerable working conditions.

They are demanding all buses be fitted with effective air conditioning so that they are not made to suffer the same conditions when the next heatwave inevitably hits.

Some 587 union members voted against the offer in a consultative ballot, with 501 voting in favour.

The proposals included a plan to install air conditioning ahead of summer 2027 and had been negotiated in talks between the union and Arriva North London before being put to union members. 

Strikes were set to go ahead from Wednesday until early Friday morning. But they were suspended to allow members to vote on the new offer.

But the workers revolted against the offer. Their programme of strikes will resume next Tuesday.

It appears that even two strike days have forced bosses to get around the negotiating table and concede to some of workers’ demands. The union says that bosses failed to act on workers’ complaints about air conditioning until they took action. 

But a majority of union members have said the offer still isn’t good enough. With other transport links such as the Piccadilly Line closed this coming week, workers have an opportunity to really wield their power to disrupt business as usual in the capital.

In doing so, they are ramping up pressure on Arriva bosses to take up other concerns that have been raised by members including issues such as the lack of adequate toilet provision for drivers.

More than 25 percent of routes with a round trip of up to 150 minutes have only one toilet that drivers can access—rectifying this should be part of the bargain.

There has been widespread support for the strike from the public and other workers. Bus drivers from garages run by other operators joined picket lines to highlight that the issues affect all workers as heatwaves become a recurring feature of the climate crisis.

Zoë Garbett, mayor of Hackney for the Green Party visited the picket line at Stamford Hill bus garage on Tuesday morning.

“The climate crisis is absolutely here and you are experiencing the worst of that,” she told strikers.

“For decades NHS and health professionals have talked about the impact that the climate crisis is going to have on people’s health. This is a workers’ justice issue.”

The strikes have been a sign of the rising mood for resistance, workers should harness this feeling to fight on every issue that undermines their health and dignity at work.

Updated 22 August