Bus staff in London are set to strike for six days starting this Friday, after rejecting a poor pay offer.

Around 40 workers employed by the Abellio bus company, who monitor bus routes, direct drivers about traffic conditions and strive to maintain safety on the roads, will take six days of action beginning on Friday, January 19.

These control room staff use advanced GPS systems to guide bus routes across the capital.

The low salary increase of just five per cent offered by Abellio for 2023 - which is a real terms pay cut - is the crux of the dispute.

Currently, these workers earn around £10,000 less per year than similar staff employed by other bus companies.

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Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said: "Abellio’s poor pay offer will bring chaos to London as our members take strike action to fight for better pay."

She added: "Abellio has hundreds of millions of pounds of revenue from lucrative London bus contracts and yet it is trying to short-change some of its most vital staff.

"It needs to understand our members won’t stand for it."

The latest accounts of Abellio London showed profits exceeding £4 million from revenues of more than £165 million.

Controllers, managers and supervisors from Battersea and Twickenham bus garages are also staging walkouts.

This action will take place on January 19 and January 26, as well as February 2, 9, 16 and 23.

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Maxine Loza, Unite regional officer, said: "These workers provide an absolutely vital service to bus drivers and passengers.

"Yet Abellio is treating them with disdain with this pay offer.

"Abellio needs to come back to the table with an improved offer to avoid ruining the journeys of millions of Londoners.

"Abellio is to blame for this strike and they need to fix it."

A spokesperson from Abellio said: "We have negotiated with Unite since April 2023 regarding pay for its members in our Controller and Officials staff groups.

"It is disappointing to see Unite take strike action following an unconditional offer of a 5% increase in salary, back paid to January 2023. 

"This offer is in line with increases made to other groups of staff within the business."

They added: "We have mitigation plans in place for the strikes and are working with TfL to ensure Londoners can continue to travel during this unnecessary action."

The upcoming strikes will mainly impact routes in South and South West London, including: 24, 27, 111, 156, 159, 267, 285, 322, 344, 345, 415 , 490, 969, H20, H25, H26, R68, R70.