Unite the union announced on 29 September that strike action will go ahead on Metroline buses in Greater Manchester. Around 1,000 workers at the Sharston, Hyde Road, Ashton and Wythenshawe depots will walk out starting today, 30 September. The action is set to last until 2 October.

Bus strikes to hit Manchester

Manchester mayor Andy Burnham originally announced that the strikes wouldn’t go ahead. At the time, Burnham stated that:

We’ve been working throughout the weekend, doing everything in our power to bring the negotiations between bus operators and union colleagues to a fair resolution.

This is positive progress and we’re pleased that union colleagues have now agreed to suspend strike action to ballot their members.

Indeed, drivers for Stagecoach – working out of the Oldham, Stockport and Middleton depots – won’t be carrying out their planned strike. 110 Unite members at First Bus Rochdale also cancelled their industrial action. Both walkouts were also set to last until 2 October.

Unfortunately, since Burnham’s announcement, talks between Unite and Metroline bosses broke down. The workers assert that the pay they’ve been offered doesn’t adequately address the years of low pay they’ve endured.

A spokesperson for Metroline said:

We are disappointed that Unite has continued to pursue strike action rather than giving drivers the choice to ballot on our improved offer of an 8.8% increase over two years.

‘Profits before people’

Unite regional officer Colin Hayden said:

Following negotiations between Unite and these employers, revised pay offers have been put forward for some of the workers involved in this dispute. We have therefore suspended strike action to allow members at Stagecoach and First Bus Rochdale to vote on this.

However workers at Metroline will continue with industrial action as planned as the employer has not made an offer deemed acceptable to our members.

Metroline was integrated into Manchester’s Bee Network transport system in January 2025. Since then, it increased its overall portfolio by 30%. However, its initial offer to its employees was an insulting below-inflation 3.5% increase.

Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said:

Metroline has consistently put profits before people throughout this dispute and workers have quite rightly had enough.

Bus drivers do difficult and important jobs and deserve to be paid fairly. They will have Unite’s full backing throughout the industrial action.”

Depending on the outcomes of the current ballots, co-ordinated strike action could still go ahead on 10, 11, 13, 18, 23 and 24 October. This could potentially involve Metroline, First and Stagecoach drivers, causing delays and cancellations across Greater Manchester.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alex/Rose Cocker

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