Bus drivers plan two more strikes

Bus drivers in north Staffordshire and south Cheshire will strike on Saturday and Monday after talks failed to resolve a dispute over pay.

First Bus drivers are demanding to be paid the same as their colleagues in the rest of the country.

But the company said despite offering £8 an hour, up from £6.60, discussions on Thursday proved fruitless.

A union spokesman said it was disappointed the talks had broken down and the planned strikes would go ahead.

A strike on Saturday will be the fifth walkout in three weeks.

Previous action has seen 300 drivers not turn in for work.

'Waste of time'

There have been talks between the company, the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) and conciliation service ACAS, but no agreement was reached.

The union's regional industrial organiser Neil Salter said: "We were disappointed that after a further eight hours of talks we were not able to persuade the company of the argument for fair pay and so regrettably the strikes planned for Saturday and Monday must now go ahead."

First's operations director Paul De Santis said the offer had been made in a letter two weeks before the meeting and felt the discussions had been a "waste of time".

"We made some movement today but the union rejected it and didn't offer anything," he said.