Pay row bus drivers strike again

First Bus and the union will meet later this week

Bus passengers in the north and west of Greater Manchester are facing further travel disruption in a continuing row over a proposed pay deal.

More than 800 drivers in Bolton, Bury and Wigan have walked out, staging their eighth 24-hour strike this year in a dispute with First Bus.

Bobby Morton, from Unite the Union, said: "We had a meeting on Friday and the firm is considering our proposals."

First Bus agreed the meeting was more positive than previous ones.

However, more strike days loom, as Mr Morton warned that if an agreement was not met union members were prepared to strike for another four consecutive Mondays.

He told BBC News: "We are hoping that we can come to an agreement, but it is not right to freeze our pay at the same time as the company achieving record profits of £34m."

Duncan Mcgraw from First Bus, said: "We will be meeting with the union again at the end of this week and hopefully we can reach a successful conclusion to this industrial dispute that is having such a negative impact on our local customers."