Bus company strike will affect Notting Hill Carnival, report says

Union Unite says around 1,600 drivers from the London United bus company will strike across 63 routes on Sunday and Monday, over the bank holiday weekend

Around ten per cent of the bus network will be affected, including routes serving the annual Notting Hill Carnival which will take place on both days and typically draws up to two million people.

Louise Cheeseman, Director of Buses at TfL, said, "There still will be options for people to travel in west and southwest London and parts of Surrey, but other routes may be busier than normal.

The following routes will be affected: 9, 18, 33, 49, 65, 70, 71, 72, 85, 94, 105, 110, 116, 117, 148, 203, 211, 216, 220, 223, 224, 235, 258, 265, 266, 272, 281, 283, 290, 293, 371, 404, 406, 411, 418, 419, 423, 440, 465, 467, 470, 481, C1, E1, E3, H17, H22, H32, H37, H91, H98, K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, S3, N9, N18, N33, N65, N72, N266 and S3.

The strike action is set to disrupt schedules on affected services between 5 am on Sunday, August 28 to 5 am Tuesday, August 30.

It said the firm was offering an increase of 3.6 per cent for 2022 and 4.2 per cent in 2023, while Britain's inflation rate continues to balloon up to double figures last month, for the first time since 1982.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, "It (RATP) can fully afford to pay its workers a decent pay increase, but it is refusing to do so."

A spokesperson for RATP Dev Transit London said, "With strike action now underway, RATP Dev Transit London is deeply disappointed that Unite continues to refuse to come to the negotiating table and discuss the pay rise and bonus offer to drivers.

He added, "The London bus market has been and continues to be extremely challenging and competitive. In this context, we have offered drivers a pay rise of 7.95% for two years plus a bonus paid in December this year, but this has been rejected. The union has refused offers of talks to resolve the pay dispute."

The bus drivers' strike is the latest one among the public and private sector workers in the UK, as the increasing cost of living has led workers to demand salary hikes to keep up with their surging bills.

While unrest continues to hit numerous other industries and sectors, London Underground and national railway staff have held a series of walkouts in recent months. Examples range from dock workers at Felixstowe—the country's biggest container port– refusing collectors in Scotland to criminal lawyers across England and Wales carrying out indefinite strike action, demanding the government to uplift rates by 25%.