BUS drivers will be enticed by a shorter working week as management table yet another offer to try and bring an end to industrial action in York.

Bosses at First are expecting staff to vote on Monday on a new pay deal which the firm is set to agree with representatives of the Transport & General Workers' Union (TGWU).

Peter Edwards, First commercial manager, said the deal would see drivers initially paid £7.20 an hour on a 37-hour week, with the rate rising even further in the future. Drivers currently operate a 38-hour week.

Mr Edwards confirmed the details of the deal had already been passed to union shop stewards, who would be holding individual meetings with drivers to gain their views.

York has seen five days of strike action so far in the dispute, with the next date pencilled in for September 10. The current offer would not see drivers lose any money despite the reduced hours.

Drivers have already rejected a series of pay deals which have not lived up to their expectations of £8 an hour. The company has insisted this demand is "unacceptable".

Another ten strike days have been set down for the remainder of September and the start of October as the drivers press their demands. But Mr Edwards said: "We are cautiously optimistic."

Jacky Appleton, York branch secretary of the TGWU, said: "We will be recommending this to the drivers. We just don't think there is anything else there.

"If we go back, one of the reasons we will return for is the benefit of the general public. We just don't want to let them down."

Work will officially start on Monday on York's Monks Cross Park&Ride site. The contractor carrying out the works on behalf of the council is Wrekin Construction Ltd. The work should take 43 weeks to complete.

Updated: 14:36 Friday, September 05, 2003