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WILDCAT BUS STRIKE CAUSE CHAOS FOR STUDENTS

By James Cree ⋅ May 7, 2008 ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

Hundreds of students were left stranded this morning after 100+ Arriva bus drivers from the Speke depot walked out on a wildcat strike, forcing the cancellation of dozens of routes across South Liverpool.

Drivers walked out in protest against revised working hours which have been proposed for new duties to be introduced at the end of May, when Arriva intends to extend its services to the Liverpool One shopping centre.

One of the bus routes with no service was the 699 from Carnatic Halls to the University of Liverpool, meaning that students with 10am exams were left with no other option but to flag down taxis in order to make it to Uni on time.

Other routes cancelled included all the 86’s, all numbers between 74 and 77 and 79 to 81, causing havoc for anyone trying to catch a bus into the City Centre from Allerton and Smithdown Road.

Phil Stone, Managing Director of Arriva North West, said, “We apologise to all customers who were affected by the unofficial strike action this morning. The inconvenience to our passengers, without any warning, was unacceptable and we are taking this matter very seriously. We appreciate there is some driver dissatisfaction to the extension of services to the Liverpool One shopping centre and we are in continued discussion with the Unite and GMB unions regarding this.”

After talks with union officials, drivers returned to work at 10:30am, with services returning to normal by lunchtime.

A spokeswoman from Liverpool John Moores University told LX News that there had not been any reported problems with students arriving late for their exams this morning.

At the University of Liverpool, the advice is to ensure that students leave with plenty of time for the start of examinations and arrange alternative transport. A spokeswoman said, “We are aware of the industrial action at Arriva and are advising students of alternative means of travelling to the University for examinations. The University understands there may be further industrial action later this week and will continue to keep students informed as more information becomes available.” They stressed, however, that “Examinations will begin at the advertised time and we advise students to leave plenty of time for their journeys.”

At the time of publishing, no official response had been received from Liverpool Hope University.

This article was last updated @ 08:47 on 08/05/2008

Were you affected by the strike this morning? If so, let us know your thoughts by commenting below.