Around 200 Stagecoach bus drivers, member of the trade unions Unite, are set to take strike action in a dispute over pay which could bring bus services across the Highlands and Islands to a stop.

Stagecoach Highlands bus drivers overwhelmingly supported strike action. The mandate for action follows an emphatic rejection of a pay offer made by the bus company which is based in Inverness. 

Any industrial action would impact on Stagecoach services in Skye, Orkney, and to the north and west of Inverness.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 

“Unite’s Stagecoach bus drivers who provide a vital service across the Scottish Highlands and Islands deserve an improved pay offer. The company continues to increase its bank balance at the expense of our members, and this is not acceptable.”

“We will back our Stagecoach members all the way in their fight for better jobs, pay and conditions.” 

The rejected pay offer amounted to four per cent from July with a further 2.5 per cent increase from January 2025. The initial six months offer was then followed by a three per cent pay offer running from July 2025 for one year.

The Stagecoach Highlands offer would leave drivers one of the poorest paid across Scotland. Unite believes this is ‘unacceptable’ on the back of the company significantly increasing its profits over the last year. 

Highland Country Buses Limited which is the name the company is registered under forms part of the wider Stagecoach Group. In its last accounts, the company recorded profits after tax amounting to £1.71m in 2023 up from £448,000 in the previous year.

Marc Jackson, Unite industrial officer, said: 

“In a matter of weeks Stagecoach bus services across the Highlands, Skye and Orkney could come to a halt because of the company’s greed. This dispute could be resolved by a fair and reasonable pay offer to our members.”

“We would urge Stagecoach to see sense instead of continuing down a road which will lead to significant disruption for the travelling public.”