Potential disruption to bus services in Bucks, Beds & Herts as workers ballot for strikes
The ballot closes on 4th September with strikes potentially taking place in late September.
Last updated 1st Aug 2025
There could be major disruption to bus services across Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, and Hertfordshire, as 700 Unite members including drivers are being balloted for industrial action over pay.
The dispute covers workers across Arriva the Shires and Arriva Kent Thameside across five depots, which include: Luton, Milton Keynes, (both the Shires) and Stevenage, Ware and Hemel Hempstead (Arriva Kent Thameside).
At the Shires, around 50 routes a day out operate of Milton Keynes and Luton, while Kent Thameside operate approximately 30 routes a day out of Hemel Hempstead, Ware and Stevenage.
Unite the Union say, 'Arriva have offered a below-inflation increase of 65p per hour, equating to 3.82% for a bus driver backdated to 1 January 2025.'
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Arriva can clearly afford to give our members the pay rises they deserve - but are choosing to put their own greed over people.
"Strikes will be extremely disruptive to local services but the blame completely lies with Arriva.
"We will back our members every step of the way throughout this dispute."
The ballot closes on 4th September with strikes potentially taking place in late September, a couple of weeks after the return to school.
Members being balloted are predominantly drivers, but also include managerial and administrative staff, engineers, cleaners and shunters.
Unite regional officer Jeff Hodge said: "Our members at Arriva work very hard - this is a skilled and stressful job - and should be rewarded for their efforts with a decent pay rise, especially when Arriva is such a profitable company.
"We appreciate local residents may be frustrated with any potential industrial action but the fault lies with the employer.
"We urge Arriva to come back and offer a better deal for our members to avoid any strikes."
We've approached Arriva for comment and will update the webpage accordingly.