Strike action in Portsmouth, Gosport and Hampshire over the festive period

A Solent from First Bus spokesperson, said:

“In a final attempt to prevent industrial action taking place over the festive period, we met with Unite again on Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 December, and ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) acting as mediation.

“Throughout the negotiation process we have taken on Unite member feedback and made a number of offers in order to try and settle this dispute, to ensure customers are not affected by strike action.

“Our final no strings offer of 7.8% (including other enhancements) represented a 35.9% pay increase since 2021.  Unite told us today they would give members the opportunity to have their say via ballot, without a recommendation to either accept or reject to allow staff to make their own choice. However, we are bitterly disappointed to learn that Unite in fact recommended members reject the offer, in direct contrast to what they told us in negotiations.

“They have decided to proceed with planned industrial action, before staff have the chance to have their say. We have reminded them of the timing of the strikes and that ultimately, it is our customers who are going to suffer unnecessarily over the festive period.   

"We would like to sincerely apologise for the disruption this unnecessary action will cause.  We know people will have essential appointments and will want to visit family and so we will do all we can using staff from other areas to keep as many services running as possible.”

Customer information on service levels for 19, 21, 24 and 26 December:

**Please note that all services may be subject to change at short notice and passengers should check before travelling.**

• First Bus expects routes 2, 7, 8, 22, Hoverbus (H1), the Portsmouth Park & Ride (PR1) and Portsmouth University U1 and U2 service to operate as normal.

• School and College services PC1, PC2, RED, SD4, SD5 and SD7 are expected to operate as normal.

• A reduced and limited service is planned to operate on routes 3, 5, E1 and E2

• Route 3 will operate between Fareham and Cosham Health Centre only every 20 minutes between approx. 7am and 6pm. Passengers travelling to/from Portsmouth, please use services 7 and 8 and change at Cosham.

• Route 5 will operate hourly between approx. 7am and 6pm. Please see special timetable (attached) for further details.

• Routes E1 and E2 will each operate half hourly between approx. 7am and 6pm, with a combined 15-minute frequency between Fareham and Fort Brockhurst.

We anticipate operating the Boxing Day service as advertised, but routes 1, 3, E1 and E2 may be subject to short notice cancellations.

For the latest information, customers should go to: 

Website: https://www.firstbus.co.uk/portsmouth-fareham-gosport/news-and-service-updates

Social media: X.com @FirstPortsmouth

Phone: First Bus National Contact Centre 0345 646 0707