NEARLY 1,000 Abellio bus drivers in London are set to strike for 10 days in a dispute over pay, Unite announced today.

The 950 workers, employed by the Dutch transport company to operate services across the south and west of the capital, will stage intermittent 24-hour walkouts between November 22 and December 17.

Bosses have “failed to enter into meaningful pay talks, despite indicating they had been prepared to do so,” the union charged.

Unite regional officer Guy Langston warned of “widespread disruption” but said that the dispute is “entirely of Abellio’s own making.

“The delay in offering a pay increase is causing extreme distress to the workers who are increasingly struggling to make ends meet and pay even for the basics.”

Unite accused the firm of having to rely on overtime to keep services running because its pay rates — “among the lowest for bus drivers in London” — are causing a “retention crisis.”

Employees based at garages in Battersea, Beddington, Hayes, Southall, Twickenham and Walworth will be involved in the industrial action.

The company was contacted for comment.