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South Londoners may need to work from home if they can next week! There's a bus strike proposed from Monday May 16 in the wee small hours of the morning (3am to be precise) until 3am on Wednesday May 18. As if the news that London traffic has been ranked the worst in the world wasn't bad enough, now we hear that those of us commuting from south of the river may not be able to get around at all.
The strike involves drivers of Arriva buses, themselves part of Transport for London who are involved in a pay dispute with the company. Up to a thousand drivers who are members of the union Unite will be striking, leading to delays and disruptions ( best case scenario) or no services at all on some routes ( worst-case scenario).
Unite regional officer John Murphy had this to say: “The bus strikes scheduled for May will undoubtedly cause disruption and delays across London but this dispute is a direct result of Arriva’s high-handed treatment of its drivers.
‘Further strikes can still be avoided provided that Arriva returns to the negotiating table and makes an improved offer that members find acceptable.’
The proposed strike action will primarily impact services in South London, including Croydon, Thornton Heath, Streatham and Brixton.
Those North of the river will not quite appreciate how reliant us hardy South London types are on our buses – we don’t have the extravagant array of tube stations and networks that are breezily taken for granted in Highbury or Camden Town, but give us a simple tram, the DLR and the overground and it’s almost an embarrassment of riches. We just get tired of your moaning how difficult it is to get to Croydon, say, like it’s a bloody arctic expedition. No doubt we’ll find a way into central London if we need to, we’re resilient like that.
Watch this space for updates on whether these proposed strikes will go ahead.
London is also one of the most stressful cities to drive in.
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