London bus drivers set to strike over bank holiday weekend

BUS drivers in west and south-west London will go on strike this bank holiday weekend, affecting some routes which serve Notting Hill Carnival.

Unite union members working at London United garages, which operates a bus franchise in the capital, plan to walk out on Sunday 28 and Monday 29, affecting 63 routes across west and south-west London.

It comes after bus drivers on those routes staged a 48-hour strike last weekend in a row over pay, claiming that London United was not offering sufficient pay increases to keep pace with inflation.

TfL said the affected routes would comprise around ten percent of the overall network.

London United is said to be offering a pay increase of 3.6 per cent in 2022 and 4.2 per cent next year. However, Unite has rejected this as being an effective real-terms pay cut.

The strike action is set to disrupt schedules on affected services between 5am on Sunday August 28 to 5am Tuesday August 30.

Night buses on Saturday August 27 into Sunday 28 August are expected to operate as normal, but will not run on Sunday 28 August or Monday 29 August.

Passengers are being advised to seek alternative routes.