(17 Nov 2021, 9:29 am)Kuyoyo wrote As I understand it, Newcastle and South Shields accepted a 5.7% increase - as Stockton and Hartlepool rejected 3.7% for the strikes to start.

I think you're possibly getting your wires crossed. I believe Stagecoach committed to a two-year pay deal (2% each year) in 2019 which covered that year plus 2020. The pay rise for 2021 is 3.7%.

The communication that has gone out to stakeholders is that the staff have been given a 5.7% pay rise 'since the start of Covid' (i.e. last year's pay rise which was committed do prior to the pandemic, paired with this year's). They're doing this to provide a fairer comparison against the other operators in the region, who both had a pay freeze last year.