(15 Dec 2018, 4:16 am)Multi21 wrote Anyone got a spare bottle... Unite just lost their's..

Nothing to do with Arriva offering a new pay deal which unite the union have to put to the members?......willing to stand corrected though!!!

(15 Dec 2018, 4:16 am)Multi21 wrote Anyone got a spare bottle... Unite just lost their's..

Need to change your reps, if that is the case. 

Agree with you though. What has been offered looks to be far short than what was being sought by the Union. I am not sure how they'll be able to justify suspending action and re-balloting, but I guess it is now up to the drivers to make their feelings known in that ballot.

As I expected Unite shaft their members at the last minute. It's a race to the bottom in bus driver pay with both Stagecoach and GNE just as bad.

Doesn't this just show that Unite never intended to go to strike - instead dragging it out until the last minute before agreeing to put an offer to ballot in order to suspend it?

That offer ended up being worse than a previous offer that they didn't think was good enough to take back to us drivers last week.

Pretty obvious to me, this was never going to take place and purely designed to tarnish the public image of the company.

Lots of rumblings that there was a significant number of drivers prepared to strike break too - which stalled the publication of the timetable plans.

£1 an hour, paid breaks for all, reduced maximum driving to 4.5 hours and reduced time to get to the top rate is a great opening position - but there is absolutely no way that Arriva will meet that in one go and drivers who think they will by taking action need to look at Northern. Strikes being normal now and no sign of them backing down.

Every week us drivers potentially strike, we lose 2% of our pay annually (approx). It's not worth it. Why are we not working to rule instead?

Arriva management and Unite have played this game for years, in the end the drivers get worn down and think "Sod it we may as well accept". Rest assured if this new offer is rejected and another strike date is given, the same thing will happen again. It's 18 years since my depot had a strike and that was for only one day.

The reason there is no work to rule is that there will always be a minority of greedy drivers who will work every possible minute they can in overtime, whether they actually need the money or not. Plus it will be irrelevant soon anyway as they are flooding all the depots with new drivers on the new pitiful pay rates so they won't need to rely on drivers working overtime anymore.

(16 Dec 2018, 5:14 pm)Driver9*** wrote Arriva management and Unite have played this game for years, in the end the drivers get worn down and think "Sod it we may as well accept". Rest assured if this new offer is rejected and another strike date is given, the same thing will happen again. It's 18 years since my depot had a strike and that was for only one day.

The reason there is no work to rule is that there will always be a minority of greedy drivers who will work every possible minute they can in overtime, whether they actually need the money or not. Plus it will be irrelevant soon anyway as they are flooding all the depots with new drivers on the new pitiful pay rates so they won't need to rely on drivers working overtime anymore. 

It's not just pay rates that are poorer though. That's the sad thing. 
Pensions and a stack of other 'perks' all leave the newer employees worse off than the older guard are.

Drivers should do what Ryobi bus drivers in Okayama are doing. Driving as per normal shift requirement however not taking any fares.

(17 Dec 2018, 9:45 am)Stanleyone wrote Drivers should do what Ryobi bus drivers in Okayama are doing. Driving as per normal shift requirement however not taking any fares.

Gross misconduct, that.
Striking, if done by the book, isn't an offence in anyway.

(15 Dec 2018, 8:18 pm)Adrian wrote Need to change your reps, if that is the case. 

Agree with you though. What has been offered looks to be far short than what was being sought by the Union. I am not sure how they'll be able to justify suspending action and re-balloting, but I guess it is now up to the drivers to make their feelings known in that ballot.

Surely that's the idea isn't it, ask for far more than you expect to get and then hope to get a proportion if it. Noone expects Arriva to accept something that will increase the wage bill by 20%.

Arriva bus drivers set new strike date
https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1...rike-date/

(20 Dec 2018, 6:21 pm)Adrian wrote Arriva bus drivers set new strike date
https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1...rike-date/

Let's hope this goes ahead, I imagine Belmont will be swapping some buses with Jesmond for a few deckers. Although if they have very little services running I can't see it being a big PVR.

(20 Dec 2018, 6:26 pm)S830OFT wrote Let's hope this goes ahead, I imagine Belmont will be swapping some buses with Jesmond for a few deckers. Although if they have very little services running I can't see it being a big PVR.

I'm expecting their priority would have to be the routes where they have the monopoly. The 61/62, for example. No idea how we'll used the 61 is, but there will still be some we'll heeled pensioners cut off without it. People in brasside would have nothing without the 62, though. Most of the 64 is duplicated or has a not too distant alternative, but Newton Hall has no alternatives. Most of the people using it in NH are elderly or have walked to the Arnison centre and have heavy bags to carry back (I do the same from Fram, but have the 50 and 14 to fall back on.)

The 22 and 24 would at least have to offer a Sunday service and the Trimdons, Fishburn, Ferryhill and Sedgefield would still need to be served.

(21 Dec 2018, 7:34 pm)BusLoverMum wrote I'm expecting their priority would have to be the routes where they have the monopoly. The 61/62, for example. No idea how we'll used the 61 is, but there will still be some we'll heeled pensioners cut off without it. People in brasside would have nothing without the 62, though. Most of the 64 is duplicated or has a not too distant alternative, but Newton Hall has no alternatives. Most of the people using it in NH are elderly or have walked to the Arnison centre and have heavy bags to carry back (I do the same from Fram, but have the 50 and 14 to fall back on.)

The 22 and 24 would at least have to offer a Sunday service and the Trimdons, Fishburn, Ferryhill and Sedgefield would still need to be served.

The last time before there called it off, east Durham college had the timetables for the strike action which there received from arriva, service 22 every 2 hours only between Peterlee and Durham between 9 and 5ish, 24 every 2 hours between Peterlee and Durham same times, no 23 service, no arriva between Peterlee and Sunderland, and no service between Hartlepool and Peterlee except 1 journey in the morning and one journey at tea time, Monday to Friday only


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(21 Dec 2018, 7:41 pm)cbma06 wrote The last time before there called it off, east Durham college had the timetables for the strike action which there received from arriva, service 22 every 2 hours only between Peterlee and Durham between 9 and 5ish, 24 every 2 hours between Peterlee and Durham same times, no 23 service, no arriva between Peterlee and Sunderland, and no service between Hartlepool and Peterlee except 1 journey in the morning and one journey at tea time, Monday to Friday only


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That would be a pig for people who have to get to work, or get to school and college before 9am, as is traditional. Thornley and Wheatley Hill have the 58 to fall back on and there's the handful of secured early morning services (if the 214 etc still run) but AFAIK people in the Shottons>, ludworth, shadforth, littlethorp etc have no alternative.

(21 Dec 2018, 7:54 pm)BusLoverMum wrote That would be a pig for people who have to get to work, or get to school and college before 9am, as is traditional. Thornley and Wheatley Hill have the 58 to fall back on and there's the handful of secured early morning services (if the 214 etc still run) but AFAIK people in the Shottons>, ludworth, shadforth, littlethorp etc have no alternative.

It was mentioned that if an east Durham student has to get a go north east bus and not there local arriva service then there would be reimbursed by the college when there hand there bus ticket in


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(21 Dec 2018, 7:58 pm)cbma06 wrote It was mentioned that if an east Durham student has to get a go north east bus and not there local arriva service then there would be reimbursed by the college when there hand there bus ticket in


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You can't get a go north east bus from those places, though. Certainly not on a college day.

(21 Dec 2018, 8:02 pm)BusLoverMum wrote You can't get a go north east bus from those places, though. Certainly not on a college day.

You can from Hartlepool towards Peterlee and Sunderland towards Peterlee


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(20 Dec 2018, 6:26 pm)S830OFT wrote Let's hope this goes ahead, I imagine Belmont will be swapping some buses with Jesmond for a few deckers. Although if they have very little services running I can't see it being a big PVR.

You obviously don't rely on buses then.

(20 Dec 2018, 6:26 pm)S830OFT wrote Let's hope this goes ahead, I imagine Belmont will be swapping some buses with Jesmond for a few deckers. Although if they have very little services running I can't see it being a big PVR.

Hoping a strike goes ahead? Causing disruption to kids on their first week back to school after the break, the elderly who may need buses to get to the shops, people going to work, etc.

Aye, let's not hope that Arriva and the drivers manage to find a solution before that, and instead hope that everyone's lives are massively inconvenienced.

(20 Dec 2018, 6:26 pm)S830OFT wrote Let's hope this goes ahead, I imagine Belmont will be swapping some buses with Jesmond for a few deckers. Although if they have very little services running I can't see it being a big PVR.

Can't see that happening considering how few services are running, Belmont certainly should be able to manage with the deckers they already have.

Based on timetables previous shared, service offerings are very stretched, most services are running at most on a hourly basis, two hourly in many cases such as Sapphire 7 and some services are school/college time runs only.

(21 Dec 2018, 8:21 pm)cbma06 wrote You can from Hartlepool towards Peterlee and Sunderland towards Peterlee


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I thought we were still on the topic of the East Durham villages served by the 22/24. I can blame the wine I had with my takeaway for that.bit of slowness :p

Attached are the County Durham timetables that were promised but never published by Arriva.

(22 Dec 2018, 8:44 pm)Adrian wrote Attached are the County Durham timetables that were promised but never published by Arriva.

The 64 doesn't even match the sunday short. No one will have a clue when it's turning up.

(24 Dec 2018, 12:08 am)BusLoverMum wrote The 64 doesn't even match the sunday short. No one will have a clue when it's turning up.

I don't think anything matches Sunday's. It's obviously a 'do as much as possible' with few drivers.

(24 Dec 2018, 7:57 pm)RobinHood wrote I don't think anything matches Sunday's. It's obviously a 'do as much as possible' with few drivers.

Aye, but the risk is that it's not worth the bother if people don't know when it's turning up. A lot of the pensioners on the 64 act like mobile phones are some sort of sorcery.

Confirmed details now available at:
https://www.arrivabus.co.uk/north-east/f...ike-buses/

Go North East have also released details of how they will support passengers affected by the strike:
http://newsroom.gonortheast.co.uk/news/g...ike-345761

Not being in the industry, so someone educate me, but am surprised they’re running any services at all that week. They’re taking passengers for free so have all the wages, diesel, engineering, staff costs to pay for with no revenue coming in.

Also from a passenger point of view it’s probably worth saying most should still try to make alternative arrangements if at all possible, because such a skeleton service is going to be so busy as to likely have standing loads and refuse lots of passengers - frequencies of 10 or 15 mins becoming hourly doesn’t bode well for a guaranteed journey to/from work!

(03 Jan 2019, 4:58 pm)Dan wrote Confirmed details now available at:
https://www.arrivabus.co.uk/north-east/f...ike-buses/

Go North East have also released details of how they will support passengers affected by the strike:
http://newsroom.gonortheast.co.uk/news/g...ike-345761

Is there a misprint where Mr Gilbert is quoted as ‘Despite the extra cost to us of running these additional buses’ should read ‘Thanks to the opportunity to make a shed load of money’?

I don’t blame GNE for chasing a commercial opportunity, actually surprised they’re not looking at more corridors, but they shouldn’t dress it up like they’re coming to save the day out of kindness.

Stagecoach Teesside are helping in a true sense by accepting Arriva tickets. Though I imagine Arriva will compensate them they could refuse to help and try to poach the customers long term by advertising discounted season tickets in the run up to a strike by a competitor...

Are any Arriva North East services operating tommorow? Because a Stockton driver has informed me that Stockton Depot will be closed tommorow.

(05 Jan 2019, 4:32 pm)S830OFT wrote Are any Arriva North East services operating tommorow? Because a Stockton driver has informed me that Stockton Depot will be closed tommorow.

No Arriva Durham County services (anything south of Newcastle) will operate tomorrow.

Service info for next Saturday (January 12th) will be announced sometime by Friday at the latest.