Buses blocked from leaving depots during strike, bosses claim
BBCBuses have been prevented from leaving depots during an ongoing strike, National Express West Midlands said.
It claimed the buses had been blocked at depots in Coventry and Birmingham on Wednesday morning.
Services across hundreds of routes have been disrupted, although the firm said it had tried to keep skeleton services to hospitals operating.
Union Unite said it had started a hotline for striking workers to report "intimidation" by their bosses.
The walkout follows a pay row between the company and members of Unite. The strike is set to continue indefinitely.
A National Express spokesperson said to disrupt services further by preventing the skeleton service was "completely unacceptable".
Unite said the provider had "unjustly" called police to "peaceful picket lines", and claimed striking workers faced disciplinary action and being barred from future overtime for refusing to cross picket lines.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "The company's bully-boy tactics to break the strike will only result in worsening the dispute and Unite will make sure National Express is held fully accountable for any intimidation."
The bus firm, which normally carries 600,000 passengers a day across Birmingham, the Black Country, Coventry and into parts of Worcestershire, has apologised for the disruption and has urged customers not to travel unless they have to.
Writing on social media, some expressed their support of the bus drivers' action, with others critical of the disruption caused.
Parents described children being forced to stay home, with others undertaking walks of up to two hours to get to school. People have said they are paying taxi fares as they try to get to and from work, with some claiming fares had increased due to demand.
On Tuesday, Simon Bird, the headteacher of King Edward Handsworth Grammar School in Birmingham said nearly 400 pupils were studying from home, the equivalent to two year groups.
Iris Carr, 85, of Canley, Coventry, said she relied on the bus to get out to do her shopping four times a week.
"I feel like they've put me in a corner I can't get out of, to rely on buses that don't run," she said.
National Express West Midlands said it was in talks with the union about an "offer of a 14.3% pay increase to drivers, which, at £16.46 an hour, would take the typical driver to £34,000 a year in Coventry, and our door remains open for talks".
But Unite said the company must come back with an offer members could accept.
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