TfL bus strikes 2023: London Transit drivers and engineers to stage six-day walkout

Bus passengers in west London will face disruption this winter as workers have announced six days of strike action over pay.

Around 350 drivers and engineers who are Unite the union members will start their walkout on Friday November 10.

The workers, who are employed by London Transit, which is owned by French-company RATP, are striking after they rejected a 6.8% pay offer. Unite says this is a real terms pay cut, with the true inflation rate (RPI) currently standing at 11.4%.

The union says the dispute is also over the company’s attempt to reduce terms and conditions, including removing a longstanding £500 meal relief payment and “attacking” arrangements for how workers take days off in lieu.

The workers are based at the Westbourne Park Garage in the Notting Hill area and the strikes will impact the 13, 23, 28, 218, 295, 414, 452 and N28 routes.

The strikes are set to take place on November 10 and 13 and December 1, 4, 22 and 23.

Transport for London (TfL) has warned that if the action goes ahead, little or no service is expected on the affected routes between approximately 05:00 on strike days and 06:00 the day after each strike. Other local bus, Tube and rail services in this part of London may also be busier than usual.  Unite says the industrial action will escalate if the dispute is not resolved.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “RATP is a massive multinational company. It can absolutely afford to table an acceptable pay increase and does not need to attack workers’ terms and conditions.

“Unite is totally focused on defending and improving our members’ jobs, pay and conditions. The workers at RATP have their union’s total backing during these strikes.”

A spokesperson for London Transit said: “We are disappointed at the ballot result and the decision to proceed with industrial action. Strikes will cause inconvenience to the public and further loss of earnings for our hard-working employees.

"We have made a competitive and fair offer, worth 8.3% in total, aligned to our commitment to protect drivers and engineers from inflation and reward their efforts.

"While union representatives declined our most recent offer to continue discussions on this year’s pay round, we remain ready to engage at any point. We very much hope that they will meet us and that strikes can be averted.”

Louise Cheeseman, TfL's director of buses, said: “If this action goes ahead there will still be travel options for people in west London and other parts of the capital. Other routes may be busier than normal and we're encouraging everyone who might be affected to plan ahead, allow extra time for their journeys and check before they travel using our website or the TfL Go app.

“We encourage both parties to find a solution to this dispute to avoid disruption to Londoners. We're sorry for any disruption to people's journeys.”