Go North East bosses have hit back at striking bus drivers after their union sent a delegation to Canada to pressure stakeholders.

The director has called on Unite to settle the issue by coming and negotiating in the North East rather than going to North America.

More than 1,300 bus workers have now been on strike for four weeks for better pay and conditions.

Unite, the workers' union, sent a four person delegation to meet with Ontario Public Sector Employees Union (OPSEU) in the hopes of getting their assistance resolving the issue.

OPSEU is a major stakeholder in the parent company of Go North East.

Ben Maxfield, business director of Go North East, hit back at the union and called on them to come back and negotiate.

He said: "Unite are, of course, free to talk to anybody they choose but the best way of settling this is for them to negotiate with us here in the North East on an urgent basis, rather than being in North America.”
 
"The pay offer on the table is excellent and the best anyone can remember the union ever getting.  It will make our drivers the best paid in the region. 

"Their hourly rate would rise by 10.3% to £14.15 and comes on top of a 10% rise they got a year ago. 

"The increase would typically be worth at least £2,700 annually; those working 41 hours a week would earn over £30,000 per year."

In the Go North East statement, they dispute what Unite have been saying regarding "earning less" than their counterparts in Manchester.

A spokesperson said: "Manchester drivers work to far more flexible scheduling rules. 

"Unite have confirmed to us that they would not want to swap their package of wages and conditions for that of Manchester or anywhere else.

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"They want to keep their conditions as they are now."

Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, previously said: "Unite will do whatever it takes to secure pay justice for our members at Go North East and that includes crossing continents to lobby the key financial players in the company.

"Unite will continue to step up this campaign until the dispute is resolved and these workers receive a fair pay rise."