Notes to editors

The average wage at Go North East is just £12.83 per hour yet the same workers at Go North West earn £15.53 per hour. That would mean workers in Newcastle and Sunderland would require a pay rise of over 20 per cent to earn the same as those in Manchester.

This equates to a loss of £105 per week on a 39-hour week or £5,475 per year.

Additional research by Unite shows that Go North East workers have not had a pay rise for over five years (when adjusted for inflation) and their salaries have actually fallen by 5 per cent since 2018.

Meanwhile, the highest paid director at Go North East was paid £185,000 in 2022. This is 6 times the pay of the average employee. Go North East is part of the wider Go Ahead Group of companies. Their last accounts show their bus division made profits of nearly £85million[2].


Above is a quote from Unite’s press release. I don’t think GNE would publicise these stats

Notes to editors

The average wage at Go North East is just £12.83 per hour yet the same workers at Go North West earn £15.53 per hour. That would mean workers in Newcastle and Sunderland would require a pay rise of over 20 per cent to earn the same as those in Manchester.

This equates to a loss of £105 per week on a 39-hour week or £5,475 per year.

Additional research by Unite shows that Go North East workers have not had a pay rise for over five years (when adjusted for inflation) and their salaries have actually fallen by 5 per cent since 2018.

Meanwhile, the highest paid director at Go North East was paid £185,000 in 2022. This is 6 times the pay of the average employee. Go North East is part of the wider Go Ahead Group of companies. Their last accounts show their bus division made profits of nearly £85million[2].


Above is a quote from Unite’s press release.  I don’t think GNE would publicise these stats

All those stats are publicly available.

GNE made a loss of £4.5m last year.

GNE drivers received at least a 10% pay rise last year - between 2018 and 2022 there was of course the COVID-19 pandemic which depressed everybody’s pay. 

Go North West drivers do a lot more work in a shift than GNE drivers do in the same shift length - that’s why they get paid more per hour.

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Ben Maxwell is a man-child from the school of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson. The statements he makes make a toddler seem professional. It never ceases to amaze me that people like that rise way above their capability.

Will his next statement be “loss making GNE closes depots and cuts services”?

All those stats are publicly available.

GNE made a loss of £4.5m last year.

GNE drivers received at least a 10% pay rise last year - between 2018 and 2022 there was of course the COVID-19 pandemic which depressed everybody’s pay. 

Go North West drivers do a lot more work in a shift than GNE drivers do in the same shift length - that’s why they get paid more per hour.

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Will his next statement be “loss making GNE closes depots and cuts services”?

How is that possible? We have 35 minute breaks quite often, where do they find the time?

Will his next statement be “loss making GNE closes depots and cuts services”?

It certainly won't be 

'Inexperienced and incompetent management lead to failures and depot closures at the regions biggest bus company'

Featham and Maxfield are taking the Truss/Kwarteng approach it appears

Will his next statement be “loss making GNE closes depots and cuts services”?

Wouldn't surprise me if they tried to put that on the Union too. Didn't they try that with the Chester-le-Street closure, despite it being confirmed that plan was already mooted, thanks to the ZEB bid document being published?

The only consistent seems to be the lack of any accountability from Bensham.

All those stats are publicly available.

GNE made a loss of £4.5m last year.

GNE drivers received at least a 10% pay rise last year - between 2018 and 2022 there was of course the COVID-19 pandemic which depressed everybody’s pay. 

Go North West drivers do a lot more work in a shift than GNE drivers do in the same shift length - that’s why they get paid more per hour.

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Will his next statement be “loss making GNE closes depots and cuts services”?

I thought it had been commented that the changes to terms and condition, either now or 3 months time, would be broadly similar to those at GNW? So shouldn’t broadly similar pay also follow?

Will his next statement be “loss making GNE closes depots and cuts services”?

Let's face it, depot closures and service cuts were always on the cards, possibly in retaliation for the strike action already taken. Nice to have it confirmed by someone 'in the know', so to speak.


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Go North East single-handedly saving the NHS

Attached Files

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While at Gateshead Interchange yesterday and then boarding a bus I overhead 3 separate conversations where they were not at all in support of GNE drivers, and two other conversations about the poor state of GNE’s service in general.
I was quite surprised at the tone & atmosphere it caused to be honest but I suppose for people who have no other means of transport, especially those living on the breadline will find it difficult to sympathise now.
I wonder what it’s like as today’s news filters through.

While at Gateshead Interchange yesterday and then boarding a bus I overhead 3 separate conversations where they were not at all in support of GNE drivers, and two other conversations about the poor state of GNE’s service in general. 
I was quite surprised at the tone & atmosphere it caused to be honest but I suppose for people who have no other means of transport, especially those living on the breadline will find it difficult to sympathise now.
I wonder what it’s like as today’s news filters through.

I think todays news will only reinforce what you said. 
Taxi fares will make the cost of living even harder for people and like myself people will have to change their work arrangements.

Unsurprising and expected.

I'd love to see their faces when the strikes end and the passengers aren't there to fund the pay rise.

What's that old saying, don't bite the hand that feeds you?

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Unsurprising but expected.

I'd love to see their faces when the strikes end and the passengers aren't there to fund the pay rise.

What's that old saying, don't bite the hand that feeds you?

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Lol, I'm sure they'd all be able to walk into a job at Arriva or Stagecoach if GNE ever went tits up (they won't).

There is no national shortage of bus drivers, it's just that the majority of them have tried it, not liked it and choose to work in different occupations instead.

Unsurprising and expected.

I'd love to see their faces when the strikes end and the passengers aren't there to fund the pay rise.

What's that old saying, don't bite the hand that feeds you?

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One minute punters are crying cause they cant get to the bingo, shops etc....

Then, according to the above, they are going to boycott the buses when they do come back and still even though they still wont be able to get to bingo shops etc??

What a load of TOSH!!!

Unsurprising and expected.

I'd love to see their faces when the strikes end and the passengers aren't there to fund the pay rise.

What's that old saying, don't bite the hand that feeds you?

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Where will the passengers go? The only people regularly using the service now are those without a choice 

It's entirely irrelevant what passengers think, this isn't a court of public opinion. As rail and NHS strikes have shown, there's appetite to hold out irregardless of what the view on the street is and lets remember, the vast majority of people don't use a bus and don't care. It's between an employer and its employees.

Unsurprising and expected.

I'd love to see their faces when the strikes end and the passengers aren't there to fund the pay rise.

What's that old saying, don't bite the hand that feeds you?

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Yes, and Go North East management have been doing it for many years. Indeed all the bus companies have been playing the game with the hand that feeds them, either via BSOG or by forcing cash-strapped local authorities to part-fund supposedly loss-making journeys, knowing full well that it’s the local authority that will get the blame if they aren’t funded. And then they wonder why the hand that feeds them wants to control the hand that they feed.

Unsurprising and expected.

I'd love to see their faces when the strikes end and the passengers aren't there to fund the pay rise.

What's that old saying, don't bite the hand that feeds you?

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This. If there not happy change jobs.

Unsurprising and expected.

I'd love to see their faces when the strikes end and the passengers aren't there to fund the pay rise.

What's that old saying, don't bite the hand that feeds you?

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As far as old sayings go, I prefer “A fair days pay for a fair days work” personally but each to their own.

As a headline, 10% doesn’t sound too shabby at all. There must be some size devil in the detail though, if after 2 previous weeks strike action and the prospect of even more, members are still resoundingly voting to reject. A horrible situation for all concerned.

Stagecoach are accepting weekly/daily GNE tickets until end of service on 2nd November, with longer period tickets being accepted for the time being:

Customers are advised that all valid Go North East Day and Week tickets will be valid on our services up to and including end of service on 2 November 2023.

Pre-paid tickets valid for duration periods longer than this (i.e. monthly, annual etc) will continue to be valid after this for the time being, but this may be subject to change in future.

This. If there not happy change jobs.

They do, regularly. That's why there's a national driver shortage.

One minute punters are crying cause they cant get to the bingo, shops etc....

Then, according to the above, they are going to boycott the buses when they do come back and still even though they still wont be able to get to bingo shops etc??

What a load of TOSH!!!

Even just 10% of customers moving jobs, buying a cheap runaround, changing operator where they do have some choice, getting use to shopping at the nearby Tesco instead of the further away Asda and so on could hit them pretty hard. I was on a pretty full X12, today, even though it was leapfrogging the X21 for much of its journey.

ETA in language Rob understands: frequenting a different pub

As far as old sayings go, I prefer “A fair days pay for a fair days work” personally but each to their own.

As a headline, 10% doesn’t sound too shabby at all. There must be some size devil in the detail though, if after 2 previous weeks strike action and the prospect of even more, members are still resoundingly voting to reject. A horrible situation for all concerned.

It doesn't, but in the context of RPI being at 9% or so back in July 2023 (which offer is backdated to), it's only a substantive pay increase of 1%. The rest is simply keeping pay up with inflation.

Unsurprising and expected.

I'd love to see their faces when the strikes end and the passengers aren't there to fund the pay rise.

What's that old saying, don't bite the hand that feeds you?

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And I bet some of the passengers complaining are the ones who put "petty" complaints in that lead to a driver going through a fully blown tea & biccies session!

I don't blame the drivers going all out given the **** they get from all angles!

It doesn't, but in the context of RPI being at 9% or so back in July 2023 (which offer is backdated to), it's only a substantive pay increase of 1%. The rest is simply keeping pay up with inflation.

Isn't that the point of a pay rise? To keep up with inflation?

They aren't doing any additional work so why would they get paid more?

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From the chronicle

However, customer services director Huw Lewis wrote in a note to stakeholders that this “has not been possible as there are not enough vehicles and drivers to be able to cover such a large commercial bus network in the region”.

Alistair Ford, of the North East Public Transport Users Group, added that he was “very concerned by the highly-disruptive impact these strikes are having”. He said: “ We urge the bus company and the union to engage seriously to resolve the dispute as soon as possible.

"We also, however, understand the concerns of bus drivers and their demand for an improved pay offer. Bus driving is a skilled profession and wages should reflect that. Lothian Buses in Edinburgh, owned by local councils, pays their drivers up to £18 an hour compared to the £14 being offered by Go North East. Our transport system and the safety of passengers relies on a well-paid and well-trained workforce if it is to be sustainable in the future."

Interesting that they've looked at other operators coving routes and found it wouldn't be feedable to do.

Also Scottish bus drivers get 18 ph!!!

They're taking the piss now

Guess this statement went completely out the window as well. Also to state that your not running any service buses to then still run the 351/359/335. Yes I know this has been stated before but when you say "no service will run bar contact school services" it mens no service will run. So what if the X75 or H is contract. You say no service will run so no service will run. Imagine what people would think who go into town and see routes like the 351 running to Whitley Bay but the residents who use the 307/309 or even any other see that there gonna think "why are u running that service but not mine". Anyway back to the statement

We are currently working on plans for services we will be able to operate during this period of strike. We expect that contract school bus services will still operate, and all other services will be reviewed as the situation develops

This was posted on the past 2 updates on industrial action page. Well Guess that went straight out the window

This. If there not happy change jobs.

That's what the majority have been doing over the years. 
If it wasn't for the huge attrition, the driving school would be sitting gathering dust. 

It costs the company an absolute fortune to train people up. When it's added up, I reckon far more than the cost of the increase in wages over the course of a year.

Arriva will be accepting Go North East tickets free of charge where shared routes operate from Saturday 28th October until Friday 10th November.

Also people are saying they would rather have Arriva than GNE, I know I wouldn't.

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The X12 need deckers!

This. If there not happy change jobs.

On the same token, if you're not happy with them exercising their right to strike, you can always look at another mode of transport.

Isn't that the point of a pay rise? To keep up with inflation?

They aren't doing any additional work so why would they get paid more?

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Most would see it as being valued by their employer, but maybe that's why they're in the position they are.

What additional work do you expect them to do, when they're spending every hour they can on the road? Spin a couple of plates at the same time?

From the chronicle

However, customer services director Huw Lewis wrote in a note to stakeholders that this “has not been possible as there are not enough vehicles and drivers to be able to cover such a large commercial bus network in the region”.

Alistair Ford, of the North East Public Transport Users Group, added that he was “very concerned by the highly-disruptive impact these strikes are having”. He said: “ We urge the bus company and the union to engage seriously to resolve the dispute as soon as possible.

"We also, however, understand the concerns of bus drivers and their demand for an improved pay offer. Bus driving is a skilled profession and wages should reflect that. Lothian Buses in Edinburgh, owned by local councils, pays their drivers up to £18 an hour compared to the £14 being offered by Go North East. Our transport system and the safety of passengers relies on a well-paid and well-trained workforce if it is to be sustainable in the future."

Interesting that they've looked at other operators coving routes and found it wouldn't be feedable to do.

Also Scottish bus drivers get 18 ph!!!

The cost of living in and around Edinburgh is exceptionally high, being ranked the third most expensive metropolis in which to reside on a solo basis. Such a seemingly high hourly rate will not take many drivers far, especially if they live alone. 

What is more surprising is how such a seemingly high rate compares to those enjoyed/endured by those in Aberdeen, where First pay a top rate of £12.24 and Stagecoach starts from £12.35. The cost of living and working in Aberdeen is significantly higher than what we experience here, due to the oil and gas industry and its impact on the local property market, yet their drivers are paid less. I reckon most drivers residing in Aberdeen proper either bought their homes prior to the 2010s or are renters whom have resigned themselves to never experiencing home ownership.