RAM media release 5.5.05
ARC councillor says:

'I call on Stagecoach to stop acting like a corporate cowboy'

"Today as I stood on the picket line outside Stagecoach's head office, I heard how drivers and their families were struggling to survive on the company's pitiful wages," said Robyn Hughes, RAM councillor on the Auckland Regional Council.

"Stagecoach is a very rich and powerful multinational. Their annual reports from head office consistently praise its New Zealand operations for returning higher profits than most of its other global subsidiaries. Yet all we hear from its New Zealand chief Ross Martin is how Stagecoach profits are 'close to zero'. I don't believe that's factual, because it's out of tune with what the annual reports say."

"RAM has asked Mr Martin several times to open Stagecoach's books in New Zealand. He's always refused to do so. I again challenge him to open the books. That's the least Stagecoach can do when they're getting tens of millions each year in public subsidies from my council," said Robyn Hughes.

"If Stagecoach tries to bust the strike with non-union labour, I will be at the front of the picket line along with others from RAM," said Robyn Hughes.

"These drivers carry our most precious cargo, which are our families and friends, yet Stagecoach's offer doesn't take them anywhere near what truck drivers get. The bus drivers deserve the modest $16 an hour they're asking for, and they need it to compensate for the decline in their purchasing power over many years."

"I call on Stagecoach to stop acting like a corporate cowboy, pay the drivers $16 an hour now and get Auckland moving," said Robyn Hughes.

ENDS

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