‘Bitter disappointment’ as GMB Union stages tram strikes in busy city

Hundreds of tram workers will strike in Nottingham after the GMB Union rejected a pay deal with the network’s operator.

The action has been timed to coincide with the city’s busiest annual event, Goose Fair.

The tram’s operator, Nottingham Express Transit (NET), said it is “bitterly disappointed” by the rejection of an “above inflation” pay rise.

Around 200 staff, including drivers, ticketing officers and security will walk out on September 27 for 10 days until October 6.

Colin Whyatt, GMB Organiser, said: “Workers are being forced to take matters into their own hands” and that “strike action is always a last resort.”

Adding that “tram staff do vital work” to keep Nottingham moving.

“It’s only right that their pay lets them keep up with the bills and take care of their families.”

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NET said the offer was the third to be rejected by the GMB Union after weeks of negotiations.

The company said, aside from “deliberately disrupting a much-loved family event” the strike would have “wider implications” putting the service’s “survival at risk”.

Similar plans for a strike in 2023 were put on hold after a 10 per cent pay deal was agreed.

The seven-hundred-year-old Goose Fair is one of the biggest travelling attractions in Europe, attracting tens of thousands of visitors to Nottingham during October.