It looks likely that First Bus drivers will strike on a number of days over the next few weeks. Action is planned to take place on Monday 10 October, Friday 21 October, Friday 4 November and Friday 11 November. The action has been called by the RMT union after failing to achieve satisfactory pay and working conditions from First.
If the strikes go ahead and are well supported by the drivers, this will cause substantial disruption to services. As well as the many commercial routes that First run in mid and west Cornwall, there are the Truro and Penwith College buses, and First run the Truro park and ride service for Cornwall Council.
The Council is in discussions with First management to assess the likely scale of the impact on services. Further information will follow as soon as it is available.
Update from First Kernow website Sunday 9 October:
Strike Action by RMT : Monday 10 October
We can confirm that 227 RMT members out of our staff of 650 operating Buses of Somerset and Cornwall by Kernow routes have voted to take industrial action following recent pay offer discussions.
Therefore, there is likely to be a very limited service operating this coming Monday 10th October, with no guaranteed journeys. In light of this we advise that our customers seek alternatives where possible.
In Cornwall, we expect Truro Park & Ride (PR1 / PR1A) to be the only registered bus services to operate a full timetable. In addition, the following trips are expected to run:
Land's End Coaster - 0725 Sennen Cove to Mounts Bay Academy & Humphrey Davy School plus the 1510 afternoon return.
17 - 0737 St Ives to Mounts Bay Academy & Humphrey Davy School, plus the 1509 return.
Many of the private school and college buses we operate will run, and these have been communicated with the relevant council and/or school/college.
Unfortunately, no services are guaranteed, and the above is based on expected driver availability. Please check our Twitter feeds: @by_Kernow, @busesofsomerset and @adventuresbybus on the day to make sure.
We apologise sincerely to all our customers for the inconvenience this will cause. We are doing everything possible to operate what services we can.
First Bus National Contact Centre
Phone: 0345 646 0707