Bank Holiday bus strike to clash with London's Notting Hill Carnival as revellers warned of delays

24 August 2022, 14:52

Some 1,600 London United bus drivers will walk out on Sunday and Monday, during the Notting Hill Carnival, but Transport for London has said the event "won't be severely disrupted by only a small number of bus routes being cancelled".

The strike is the latest in a series of walkouts in the transport industry, which the Unite union says is taking place because the workers are only being offered a 3.6% pay rise for 2022, and 4.6% for the following year - which it calls a "real terms pay cut".

The union points to the fact that the real inflation rate (RPI) currently stands at 12.3%.

Unite's general secretary Sharon Graham said French firm RATP, which owns London United, was "an incredibly wealthy company" that could afford to pay to raise wages.

"It [RATP] can fully afford to pay its workers a decent pay increase, but it is refusing to do so," she said.

"Our members play a vital role in keeping London moving and they are not going to accept a real terms pay cut when they are already worried about how to make ends meet."

The bus workers striking operate from depots in Fulwell, Hounslow, Hounslow Heath, Park Royal, Shepherd's Bush and Tolworth.

Park Royal, Shepherd's Bush and Stamford Brook depots all serve routes which are in the vicinity of the carnival.

The carnival, traditionally held on the August bank holiday weekend, is returning to the streets of West London for the first time since 2019, after two years of disruption caused by the pandemic.

The event usually sees around two million people attending.

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A spokesperson for TFL said: "The carnival won't be severely disrupted due to only a small number of bus routes being cancelled.

"TfL is doing everything it can to reduce the impact of the strike action and is running as many bus services as possible, however customers are advised to check before they travel and leave extra time for their journeys."

Unite regional officer, Michelle Braveboy, has said that the blame for the dispute lies solely with RATP: "Strike action will inevitably cause considerable disruption and delays across west and south London, including for the carnival, but this dispute is entirely of the company's own making."

RATP has been approached for comment.