So near yet so far Deal close to end bus strike but small details still to be agreed

STRIKING bus drivers and bus company bosses are “so very close” to an agreement, apart from a small but important detail in the two-year pay deal for Bristol’s bus drivers that has triggered this week’s four-day strike.

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First Bus drivers in the West of England receive a basic pay - before overtime and extra pay for working different shifts - of £16 an hour. First Bus has agreed that this should go up to £17 an hour by the end of this financial year - next March - and next year up to £17.40, in 2026. That's an increase of 4.7% this year and another 4% next year.

But First wants to stagger that increase - with a rise to £16.50 an hour first and then up to £17 an hour next year. Because the dispute has been rumbling on for months since the start of this year, it is actually the pay rise that the drivers should have received from April 1 this year.