Go-Ahead is a commercial enterprise. They don't finance a supply to meet a demand if there is no realistic prospect of a return to profitability, a first step on that road being to ensure the most efficient use of existing resources. The Unite suggestion that the group should instead fund a pay rise and retain conditions where they are by funneling money from Brighton or wherever indefinitely, as if GNE were merely some bizarre arm of the DWP, is frankly ludicrous.
They tried this argument in the West Midlands, and all it served to do was remind people that large groups like National Express are not black boxes, they do have component parts, some of which make a lot of money, and some of which do not. Although some might assume NXWM was a very large part of the group, on all measures, it really isn't, to the point you suspect the Group only caved in because they perhaps see a strategic advantage to being a dominant commercial operator if and when the time comes that the West Midlands council is either handing out contracts or buying up depots to hasten the return to the PTE days. In the mean time, it was hardly a surprise that the Group was not minded to cross subsidise this hefty award that amazingly pays its drivers better than London ones when costs of living are factored in, and is instead making the business bear it through fare hikes and service cuts (a pretty good sign they're no longer in that area for the long haul).
RE: Go North East - 2023 Pay Deal and Industrial Action