BUS drivers unhappy about variable pay scales are being balloted today on whether they will accept an unpopular new contract.

The drivers work for private bus provider Arriva, one of three which runs routes in Enfield, but their complaint is part of a larger issue with the private bus companies who run services in the capital.

Employees can earn as much as £10,000 a year less than colleagues doing the same job, according to union Unite.

It has warned of a "real prospect" of a London-wide strike ballot.

Such action would be bad news for travellers who have already been hit with a train strike on the National Express East Anglia, a set to continue until midnight tomorrow and to be repeated on twice more if no agreement can be reached.

Union members protested in their underwear in Marble Arch on Wednesday, claiming that a “huge disparity” between wages was lowering standards.

Drivers working for Arriva at Enfield Town bus stand said their company was taking advantage of people forced to retrain because of the recession to get cheap labour.

Existing drivers also face a cut in their pensions if they accept the new deal, they claim.

A 30-year-old driver who lives in Enfield said: “I think what they're doing to the new drivers is not really fair because we do the same job.

“The new pay rate is not very good, £2.50 an hour less. Bendy bus drivers get about £2 more than me, so it could be a £4.50 an hour difference.

“A lot of what they're doing is making a lot of money and taking advantage of the recession because people are desperate.

“There's a lot of people who want to drive because it's a secure job, you get work every day. A lot of my friends want to go on the buses but because I know what's what I tell them they're better off not joining.”

The driver claimed the company was “coming down hard on every little mistake” and said he suspected Arriva was deliberately trying to push out the better paid drivers in favour of newbies on a lower rate.

Bob Scowen, deputy managing director of Arriva London, said: "We have maintained a constructive working relationship with Unite over the years and will continue to negotiate with them on any pay settlement."

The drivers spoke to the Independent in confidence. They said if they were identified they could lose their jobs, or at least lose overtime and end up with a run of unsociable shifts.

“I can't even tell you how old I am,” said another driver who gave his address as Muswell Hill.

He said he had only been driving since April but would earn more than a driver starting now.

His contract also allows for a pay review after four years, something else which Arriva wants to scrap, he said.

“I think it's unfair, we've all got the same licence,” he said. We've got people who've been drivers since the 1960s and they're on the old London Transport money, it's silly money. It think that's what I was speaking to one of the old drivers and he said he would lose between £500 and £1,000 on his pension.

“They are saying TfL's skint. But you're paying for all the people who travel for nothing, you've got all these kids on a pass cluttering up the buses for one stop.”

A TfL spokesman said that since TfL was formed eight years ago bus drivers' pay had increased by around 50 per cent and hours of work and conditions had also improved considerably, although these are set by the bus companies.

The other bus companies which operate in Enfield are First and Metroline.