Bus passengers have been left angered and disappointed after the prospect of being left with no buses on certain routes across the North East for seven days, as drivers are set to go on strike.

Go North East drivers have confirmed they will walk out again on Saturday (October 14) and Sunday (October 15), as well as Monday, October, 16 to Friday, October 20.

There will be no Go North East buses running during these dates, except contracted School Services. The latest information on service disruptions is available on the company website.

This announcement comes weeks after 98 per cent of 1,300 workers from its six depots in Sunderland, Washington, Gateshead, Hexham, Consett and Percy Main voted in favour of strike action.

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The strike action also follows similar action from Saturday (September 30) to October 6, which left bus passengers in a similar predicament. 

In the aftermath of strike action being announced, bus passengers say they are furious at the situation - but have backed bus drivers on their strike action, with one person saying: "I don't know how difficult it is to improve conditions for the drivers and pay them more" while another added: "I'm absolutely livid for the bus drivers - pay your drivers!"

Meanwhile, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Go North East need to take a long hard look at themselves and how appallingly they’ve treated their workforce.”

“Our members will have the full support of their union as they take to the picket line in their fight for a fair pay deal.”

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However, Go North East have walked away from a settlement they themselves proposed to end the long-running pay dispute and will now take indefinite strike action.

On Tuesday (October 10), union representatives put forward a resolution that would see over 1,000 workers receive a 10 per cent pay rise, backdated to 1 July 2023, plus a guarantee of an ‘inflation-proofed’ pay rise in eight months’ time. The union also asked that the discussion of conditions be separated from pay.

Bosses at Go North East accepted the Union’s proposals, and all was on course for an end to the dispute, with Unite ready to suspend strike action and ballot members on the deal.

However, local representatives today announced a sudden U-turn and called indefinite strike action from 28 October.

This new action comes on top of seven days of strike action already in their diary, starting tomorrow, Saturday 14 October.

Go North East business director Ben Maxfield said, “Our workforce is beside itself with worry, but instead of a constructive dialogue what we are seeing from the local Unite representatives is moving goal posts, U-turns and knee-jerk reactions, with no consideration of the impact on the travelling public”.

He also said: “This dispute and strike are entirely of Unite’s making. All we want is for the local union representatives to work constructively and collaboratively with us to secure the region’s bus services”.

“There is mounting anger within the workforce over Unite’s handling of negotiations and their call for a continuous strike. Unite is literally rejecting a deal they themselves proposed. Wild and unfounded claims by the union of ‘paltry pay offers’, and false claims that the company are ‘not coming to the table’ don’t help”.