Bus Strikes on Monday 5th September

On Thursday, KCC were advised of industrial action being taken by Arriva employees and the Unite Union in response to a dispute over pay.

The first day of action is Monday 5th September . Further strikes could follow on 16th, 20th and 30th September unless a resolution between the parties is reached.

This is entirely a matter between Arriva and their employees, which KCC cannot influence. KCC understands the impact this will have on residents and has sought assurance from Arriva that talks to resolve the dispute and avoid further action remain ongoing.

The action is expected to include the majority of bus drivers and will mean the majority of Arriva Bus Services in Kent will not operate on the days when action is being taken. We are arranging to send communications advising passengers to assume that no Arriva service will operate including buses for school children.

The timing coincides with the first full day of the new school year and will cause significant disruptions for schools, students and parents. While services provided by other operators are not affected, these will not have capacity to absorb all other passengers and so parents and students who usually travel on Arriva services are advised that they will need to make alternative arrangements for travel to and from school. It will also undermine our efforts to replace other services that have been cancelled by some operators, in some instances creating capacity pressures that could not have been anticipated.

Unfortunately, the scale of Arriva’s operation means that there is no scope for KCC to consider the provision of replacement services particularly at the moment when a shortage of drivers is making the operation of the current network a challenge for operators in its own right.

I’m afraid that there is little by means of mitigation available to us but hope that this information is helpful.

KCC Public Transport Team