Six weeks of strikes Planned at Stagecoach West of Scotland bus services as pay talks breakdown

Unite the union can confirm today (21 May) that around 430 Stagecoach drivers will take strike action over six weeks after a breakdown in pay talks.

Bus services are set to stop across the west of Scotland after Stagecoach West Scotland failed to use last ditch pay talks to improve on a four per cent “strings attached” offer which was tabled last November and emphatically rejected by the membership.

Strike action will take place on 26 May, 2 and 6 June. It will then be followed by six weeks of continuous action starting on 9 June lasting until 21 July.

The strike action will impact Stagecoach West Scotland operating out of several depots in Ayr, Arran, Ardrossan, and Kilmarnock servicing passengers across bus routes in Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Glasgow. The bus depots in Dumfries and Galloway are not involved in this phase of strike action.

Unite members have voted by 98 per cent to take industrial following the emphatic rejection of the four per cent pay offer. The union has continued to highlight that the current pay offer is ‘unacceptable’ as it would leave the drivers one of the poorest paid across Stagecoach’s UK operations. 

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:

“Stagecoach West Scotland is a profitable company. It is making money on the back of our members’ hard work and long hours. The company can end this dispute at any moment by putting forward a fair offer.”

Scheduled strike action was previously suspended to allow further talks after the company withdrew a threat of cancelling the drivers’ annual leave entitlement.

Unite stated unless the threat was withdrawn it would seek an interim interdict against the company on the grounds of preventing discrimination against our members for trade union activities.

The company which trades under the name Western Buses Limited made a profit after tax of £2.99m in 2024 up from £1.3m in 2023. The company’s revenues also increased to £59.7m up from £50.9m over the same period.

Siobhan McCready, Unite industrial officer, said:

“Stagecoach West Scotland have not improved their pay offer in six months. The drivers are being asked to fund a pay rise by working longer hours, taking longer unpaid breaks and losing a week of annual leave. This is simply unacceptable, and it will not be tolerated by Unite.”

“Widespread and prolonged industrial action is set to hit bus services across the west of Scotland because this company doesn’t seem capable of listening to its workers. It’s not right that the drivers are the lowest paid across the whole of the Stagecoach group. Our members deserve a fair rate and that’s what we are determined to get for them.”

Stagecoach Said:

"Unite the Union has confirmed plans to take industrial action on Monday 26th May, Monday 2nd June and Friday 6th June 2025. As a result, there will be disruptions to our bus services on these days."

"Industrial action will take place over driver pay for our employees based at depots in Ayr, Ardrossan, Arran, and Kilmarnock."

"Regrettably, the industrial action will disrupt our services and inconvenience our customers. As we play a crucial role in helping people stay connected with their communities, we plan to operate a limited service with the drivers available to us."

"We’re working hard to minimise the impact of this disruption, but unfortunately, the limited services we’re running will affect customers travelling in and around Ayrshire."

"We’re very sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and understanding."

"Please see further information below: Timetables will be temporarily revised, with a limited frequency across Ayrshire on Monday 26th May, Monday 2nd June and Friday 6th June 2025.  If we’re able to provide additional resources during the days of industrial action, we’ll aim to increase services and frequencies. Customers will be notified of these changes via our X channel @StagecoachWScot and on our website stagecoachbus.com."

The following services will run at a limited frequency:

Service	Route	Frequency	First journey	Last journey
1	Kilmarnock to Priestland	Every 30 mins	0700 from Kilmarnock	1800 from Kilmarnock
1	Priestland to Kilmarnock	Every 30 mins	0735 from Priestland	1835 from Priestland
4	Kilmarnock to Ayr	Every 30 mins	0650 from Kilmarnock	1745 from Kilmarnock
4	Ayr to Kilmarnock	Every 30 mins	0745 from Ayr	1845 from Ayr
4	Kilmarnock to Glasgow	Every 30 mins	0705 from Kilmarnock	1641 from Kilmarnock
4	Glasgow to Kilmarnock	Every 30 mins	0845 from Glasgow	1815 from Glasgow
9	Kilmarnock to Stewarton	Every 30 mins	0700 from Kilmarnock	1800 from Kilmarnock
9	Stewarton to Kilmarnock	Every 30 mins	0730 from Stewarton	1830 from Stewarton
11	Ardrossan to Kilmarnock	Every 20 mins	0640 from Ardrossan	1740 from Ardrossan
11	Kilmarnock to Ardrossan	Every 20 mins	0630 from Kilmarnock	1740 from Kilmarnock
14	Irvine to Ayr Hospital	Every 60 mins	0625 from Irvine	1607 from Irvine
14	Ayr Hospital to Irvine	Every 60 mins	0640 from Ayr Hospital	1640 from Ayr Hospital
14	Troon to Irvine	Every 60 mins	0728 from Troon	1731 from Troon
14	Irvine to Troon	Every 60 mins	0807 from Irvine	1807 from Irvine
42	Ayr to Muirkirk	Every 60 mins	0700 from Ayr	1700 from Ayr
42	Muirkirk to Ayr	Every 60 mins	0730 from Muirkirk	1730 from Muirkirk
324 / 323	Isle of Arran (full loop around the island)	TBC	0628 from Brodick (324)	1655 from Brodick (324)
324 / 323	Isle of Arran (full loop around the island)	TBC	0750 from Blackwaterfoot (323)	1817 from Blackwaterfoot (323)
360	Ayr to Girvan	Every 120 mins	0720 from Ayr	1720 from Ayr
360	Girvan to Ayr	Every 120 mins	0841 from Girvan	1841 from Girvan
X76	Kilmarnock to Glasgow	Every 20 mins	0700 from Kilmarnock	17:15 from Kilmarnock
X76	Glasgow to Kilmarnock	Every 20 mins	0745 from Glasgow	1815 from Glasgow
X77	Ayr to Glasgow	Every 20 mins	0700 from Ayr	1700 from Ayr
X77	Glasgow to Ayr	Every 20 mins	0820 from Glasgow	1820 from Glasgow

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The following services will not run:

Service	Route
1	Hayhill, Masonhill
1A	Kilmarnock, Crosshouse, Hurlford
1B	Kilmarnock, Galston
2	Ayr, Prestwick
2	Kilmarnock, Hurlford
2A	Ayr  Town, Ayr Harbour
3	Ayr, Kincaidston
3	Kilmarnock, Onthank, Shortlees
S3	Ayr Academy, Galloway Avenue
5	Kilmarnock, New Farm Loch, Kilmarnock
6	Ayr, Prestwick
6	Kilmarnock, New Farm Loch, Bellfield
7	Ayr, Castlehill
9	Ayr, Doonfoot
S9	Belmont Academy, Portmark Avenue
10/110	Kilmarnock, Dundonald, Troon
12	Ardrossan, Saltcoats, Stevenston
18	Stevenston, Hayocks, Saltcoats
22	Castlepark, Perceton
23	Broomlands, Hunter Drive
25/ABCDE	Irvine, Beith
28/A	Tesco, Bourtreehill
30/A	Montgomerie Park, Irvine, Greenwood Academy
X36	Glasgow, Beith, Dalry, Kilwinning, Ardrossan
X42/42A	Ayr, Drongan, Cumnock, Muirkirk
43	Ayr, Tarbolton, New Cumnock
43A	Ayr, Annbank
50	Muirkirk, Cumnock, Kilmarnock
52	Ayr, Dalrymple, Bellsbank
61	Dunure, Ayr
76	Kilmarnock, Cumnock
X71	Kilmarnock, Priestland
X76B	Kilmarnock, Cumnock
X78	Kilmarnock, Dundonald, Troon
X79	Irvine, Kilmarnock
301	Hayhill, Masonhill
302	Ayr, Marchburn, Prestwick
306	Ayr, Marchburn, Prestwick
321	Brodick Pier, Brodick Primary School
322	Brodick, Ballymichael, Dougarie
323A	Brodick, Lamlash, Blackwaterfoot
347	Ayr, Rankinston
356	Bellsbank, Cumnock
361	Straiton, Ayr, Dunure
585/A	Ayr, Largs