BUS drivers in the Highlands could go on strike as early as November, as workers are set to be balloted for strike action amid a pay dispute.
On Thursday, trade union Unite confirmed around 120 Stagecoach drivers will take part in a ballot, after 94.6% of members rejected a pay offer from bosses Stagecoach Highlands, based in Inverness.
The pay offer amounted to a 4% increase backdated from July with a further 2.5% increase from January 2025.
This was then followed by a 3% pay offer running from July 2025 for one year.
The ballot will close on October 24, meaning strike action could take place from early November, bringing bus services around the Inverness area to a halt.
‘The responsibility lies with Stagecoach’
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham (below) said: “Stagecoach in the Scottish Highlands is guilty of stockpiling money while making a pay offer that simply doesn’t reflect our members' hard work.
“We will back our Stagecoach members all the way in their fight for better jobs, pay and conditions.”
Highland Country Buses Limited, which is the name the company is registered under, forms part of the wider Stagecoach Group.
In its most recent accounts published on Companies House, the company recorded profits after tax amounting to £1.71 million in 2023 up from £448,000 in the previous year.
Marc Jackson, industrial officer at Unite, said: “Unite’s bus drivers across Inverness and the Highlands deserve fair pay. This is a profitable company that is fully able to make a fair pay offer.
“If company doesn’t move then strike action involving our drivers is on the horizon. Stagecoach will be entirely responsible for this situation because it has the ways and means to prevent it.”
Stagecoach has been contacted for comment.
