The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union said 350 of its members at the Wilts & Dorset bus company will stage walkouts on July 10, 16, 23 and 24 after voting by 10 to one in favour of industrial action.

The RMT said the dispute centred on the company's refusal to accept that drivers should be rostered for no more than four and a half hours' continuous driving, and on the imposition of duties and rosters without the agreement of union reps.
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RMT general secretary Bob Crow criticised Wilts & Dorset at his union's annual conference in Edinburgh yesterday, saying: "This is a straightforward issue of the health and safety of our members and their passengers, and the company simply has no excuses.

"It is breathtaking that Wilts & Dorset maintains that it is acceptable to expect drivers responsible for the safety of passengers to drive for more than four and a half hours without a break and continues to impose rosters without agreement.

"I hope passengers will understand that we have tried for many months to get the company to shift on this vital issue. The company should take a sober look at the massive vote for action and recognise the growing anger over the company putting its profits before the safety of our members and their passengers."

Wilts & Dorset runs five services to and from Swindon and Salisbury, but a spokesman for the company said the proposed strikes were expected to hit services harder in the Dorset region.

He said: "The proposed strike should have no effect because the Salisbury depot and its out stations are not involved, but there is a lot of time between now and July 10.

"We don't think the proposed strikes will adversely affect the Swindon area."