Scores of striking bus drivers gathered in The Centre with whistles, horns, bells and some in fancy dress, as they turned their depot gate picket lines into a protest by the Cascade Steps near the Hippodrome all day on Friday.<\/p>\n
Only around 30 per cent of CityLines buses were running again today, Friday, September 19, after a fourth day of walk-outs in a dispute over backdating an agreed pay rise in full. Pressure on First Bus bosses grew after the drivers\u2019 union Unite said its members had agreed a second strike<\/a> – this time one that would last for a fortnight – and local political leaders urged the bus company to honour the demand to backdate the pay rise.<\/p>\n Cllr Tom Renhard (Lab, Horfield<\/a> ) is the Labour<\/a> group leader at City Hall, and came down to The Centre to support the striking bus drivers. \u201cWe\u2019re concerned about the dispute,\u201d he said. \u201cThe dispute covers back pay issues, and a lot of drivers have worked in good faith in expecting that back pay in full.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s \u00a3300,000 in total, and when First Bus are sitting on profits of \u00a3104 million, it\u2019s a drop in the ocean, but actually makes a huge difference for those individual drivers,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n READ MORE: The ‘unusual’ reason why Bristol bus drivers are on strike<\/a>READ MORE: More Bristol bus strikes announced – with disruption expected to last two weeks<\/a><\/p>\n With bus services in Bristol run by private companies and not as franchised council-run routes, there is little the city council or West of England metro mayor Helen Godwin can do to solve the internal industrial dispute involving a private company.<\/p>\n Cllr Renhard said First should act. \u201cThe only thing we can do is put a bit of pressure on First to solve the dispute, and really they should just be honouring the full back pay from our perspective,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll be writing to Doug Claringbold as the Labour Group to express our concern and encourage them to get back round the table and get the dispute settled,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n After the announcement on Thursday of a second strike <\/a>starting on October 1, First Bus managing director Doug Claringbold blamed the drivers for the strike.<\/p>\n \u201cWe, like our customers, are deeply frustrated that the union has announced an additional two weeks of strikes in Bristol from the start of October. These are unnecessary and, most importantly, hugely disruptive to our customers, and it is within the hands of the union to stop this action,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n There has been a further dispute about the number of drivers who have been breaking the strike, and the tactics employed by First to encourage crossing the picket lines. First are offering to pay drivers for their breaks – something that doesn\u2019t normally happen – and a \u00a350 per day bonus for breaking the strike at the Lawrence Hill and Hengrove<\/a> depots.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Bristol Bus Strike – full list of the services scrapped or reduced<\/a>READ MORE: Bristol Bus Strike – Day 4 updates as drivers fill The Centre<\/a><\/p>\n After saying the strike was \u2018hugely disruptive\u2019, Mr Claringbold hailed those who had returned to work. \u201cWithin 24 hours of the union\u2019s initial strikes this week we saw striking colleagues voting with their feet when some of them swapped the picket line for depots as they returned to work, clearly demonstrating that they want to get back to serving customers and are keen for this situation to be resolved,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have always maintained an open dialogue with the union and while they continue to reject our full and final offer, which has been accepted by other areas in our region, we still hope to find a solution to encourage the union to call off their strikes,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n First Bus has offered drivers a pay rise from the present basic rate of \u00a316 an hour to \u00a317, as this year\u2019s pay rise. But drivers say it should be backdated to when the pay rise is supposed to come into force – April 1. First said it doesn\u2019t want to do that, and offered the drivers a stepped pay rise so they are paid \u00a316.50 an hour backdated from April, and \u00a317 an hour from now.<\/p>\n \u201cThis deal was meant to be settled in April,\u201d explained Kirsty Rogers, a bus driver an Unite rep. \u201cEvery year they drag their heels, drag it on, and all we want is the \u00a317 an hour, backpaid to April. But they are trying to make it that we\u2019ll only get \u00a316.50. But we just want the \u00a317 an hour back paid to April and that will settle it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason for going on strike is for them to appreciate us and that they need to value us. Without us, they wouldn\u2019t have jobs above us. We are the bread and butter of the company, and we just want to be valued and appreciated really. We feel that we\u2019re worth \u00a317 an hour and the back pay that we are owed,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n The strike has seen a very limited service on First\u2019s CityLines routes – the regular within-Bristol numbered bus routes. Around 16 of those routes were scrapped altogether on Tuesday, with a service of roughly every half an hour or every hour on the remaining 18, and no service after 7pm, apart from two routes.<\/p>\n![\"Striking](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_BRI_PG_190925bus_strike-18.jpg\")
Striking First Bus drivers rally in Bristol city centre Friday 19 September 2025 on the fourth day of industrial action. (Image: PAUL GILLIS \/ Reach PLC)<\/p>\n![\"Doug](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1757747185_785_0_GH140121doug1.jpg\")
Doug Claringbold, Managing Director for First West of England(Image: Western Daily Press)<\/p>\n
![\"Striking](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_BRI_PG_190925bus_strike-175.jpg\")
Striking First Bus drivers rally in Bristol city centre Friday 19 September 2025 on the fourth day of industrial action. (Image: PAUL GILLIS \/ Reach PLC)<\/p>\n