Industrial action in Bristol - 2025
Below are our latest statements on industrial action in Bristol. Statements will be time-stamped as and when they are released.
UPDATED - Wednesday 17th September at midday.
Managing Director Doug Claringbold said:
“Firstly, I’d like to thank the thousands of passengers who travelled with us in Bristol yesterday (Tuesday), despite some of our drivers striking and disrupting the public’s travel plans.
"Our dedicated teams worked hard to provide revised timetables which meant we were able to deliver about 60 per cent of our normal services in the city.
"Yesterday (Tuesday), I spent some time at our affected depots and met some of my colleagues on the picket line, and I’m pleased to say that more of our drivers have started to return to work today.
"We recognise that this ongoing disruption is hugely inconvenient to customers and we can only apologise that travel plans are being affected.
"We remain disappointed that our full and final pay offer, which is significantly above inflation, was rejected, resulting in these disruptive strikes.
"We have been committed to improving the pay of drivers and continue to do so. Since 2021 a Bristol driver’s basic earnings has increased from just over £24,000 to more than £31,000 - a 31% increase. This pay offer would increase these basic earnings to over £33,000, with many drivers earning significantly more than this. Alongside pay, we are also investing heavily in staff facilities and conditions, including new buses and uniforms, and provide a range of benefits including health schemes.
"Despite our final pay offer being rejected – even though it was accepted in other areas across the region - we still hope to find a solution with the trade union to encourage them to call off their strikes.
"We have revised some of our timetables for Bristol, and encourage customers to check our website for more details before travelling.”
UPDATED - Friday 12th September at 4.30pm
Managing Director Doug Claringbold said:
“We are pleased to hear that our Badgerline colleagues have voted to accept our full and final pay offer, which has resulted in them calling off their planned strikes and helped reduce disruption to customers.
“However, we are disappointed to be told that our Citylines colleagues have rejected the pay offer, and therefore their planned strikes for four days from Tuesday 16th to Friday 19th September inclusive will go ahead. We have put together revised timetables to reflect the much lower level of service that we will be able to operate on these days. Details of these will shortly be available on our website and we advise customers to check for updates before travelling.
“While this was our full and final pay offer, we still hope to find a solution with the trade union which encourages them to call off these disruptive strikes.”