A one day strike by bus drivers in Aberdeen will be held on Thursday next week.
Eighty per cent of staff who voted at First Aberdeen backed taking industrial action in a dispute over pay.
The walkout will be followed by a permanent overtime ban and work to rule from July 17.
Union leaders are calling for a four per cent pay rise but the company are proposing a wage freeze.
Drivers gathered in Aberdeen on Tuesday to hear from union leaders the result of their ballot for industrial action.
Those who voted, fewer than half of the eligible staff, overwhelmingly backed a walk out. Management say in these credit crunch times a pay freeze is necessary, but union leaders disagree.
In response to the announcement First Aberdeen Operations Director, Duncan Cameron, said :
"Given that less than a third of Union members voted to go on strike it is disappointing that the Union is pursuing this course of action.
“The people of Aberdeen will neither understand nor forgive the Union for the disruption that would be caused by a strike backed by only 32% of workers and especially in the current difficult economic climate”.
First insisted they are willing to attempt to sit down with the Union to avoid what they describe as “unnecessary” strike action.
Speaking on Tuesday Tommy Campbell of the Unite Union said: "If this company wasn't making money we would certainly not be balloting on industrial action and we would be acting reasonably in those circumstances.
“It's they who are being unreasonable; they are being poor, mean and greedy as far as we are concerned. What we have here are the fat cat bosses creaming it all off for themselves and that's very unfair to the workforce”.
A strike by bus drivers in the run up to Christmas last year caused widespread disruption to services.
Speaking after the announcement First Aberdeen Operations Director, Duncan Cameron, said :
"Given that less than a third of Union members voted to go on strike it is disappointing that the Union is pursuing this course of action.
“The people of Aberdeen will neither understand nor forgive the Union for the disruption that would be caused by a strike backed by only 32% of workers and especially in the current difficult economic climate”.
First insisted they are willing to attempt to sit down with the Union to avoid what they describe as “unnecessary” strike action.
