Bus drivers stage 48-hour walkout

Some 2,500 workers drivers staged a walkout earlier this month

Commuters face travel disruption as hundreds of London bus drivers stage a second strike this month.

A 48-hour strike by First bus drivers began at 0000 BST on Friday, while workers from Metrobus began a 24-hour walkout from 0300 BST.

Union leaders are demanding a standard £30,000 salary for all bus drivers across the bus network.

But managers insisted that drivers are already getting a good pay deal following increases in recent years.

The pay of First's drivers increased by 34% between 2003 and 2007 and most earn more than £25,000 a year, according to company managing director Adrian Jones.

"I am very disappointed that Unite have asked our drivers, of whom a small proportion, (22%) voted yes to the strike, to sacrifice further days pay in pursuit of this utterly unrealistic claim."

Similarly, managers at Metrobus said their drivers were among the highest paid in the south-east with pay of up to £27,612, and salaries rising by more than 20% in five years.

But the Unite union said pay disparity between London's 18 different bus operators could be as much as £6,000. Sick pay, pensions and holiday arrangements also differed, it added.

Both companies said a handful of routes were running some services.

There are 120 routes affected by the strike.

First Group Buses - 48 hour strike:

West London: 9 (heritage service only), 10, 18, 23, 28, 31, 79, 83, 92, 95, 105, 187, 207, 223, 224, 226, 245, 282, 295, 328, 331, 414, 427, 487, 607, A10, E1, E3, E5, E7, E9, E10, PR2, U1, U2, U3, U4, U5, U10, N10, N18, N28, N31, N207.

East London: 58, 67, 91, 150, 165, 179, 191, 193, 212, 215, 231, 236, 252, 259, 299, 308, 309, 323, 339, 341, 357, 365, 385, 389, 399, 476, 488, 498, D6, D7, D8, RV1, W6, W10, W11, W12, N91.

Metrobus - 24 hour strike:

64, 119, 127, 130, 138, 146, 161, 181, 246, 261, 284, 293, 320, 336, 352, 353, 354, 356, 358, 359, 367, 405, 464, 612, 654, B14, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, R9, R11, T32, T33, X26