13 July 

Confirmation tonight that NZ Bus and bus unions have agreed to withdraw strike action will be welcome news for Auckland bus users, Auckland Transport says.

On Friday evening NZ Bus announced it was suspending all its bus drivers for one week after contract negotiations stalled with the unions representing its drivers - Tramways and FIRST Union.

Auckland Transport Executive General Manager Public Transport Services Stacey van der Putten says the news that the bus suspensions and driver strike is over will be a relief for Aucklanders.

“I want to thank NZ Bus and representatives from Tramways and FIRST Union for bringing what would have been significant period of disruption and uncertainty for Aucklanders to an end,” Ms van der Putten says.

“If the suspension of NZ Bus services or strike action had continued next week it would have affected up to 4,000 bus trips each weekday, disrupting the daily commutes of tens of thousands of Aucklanders, including thousands of school children.

“The withdraw of strike action means that Auckland’s bus services will be running as usual from tomorrow, so we’re asking our customers to please remember to tag on and off as usual.

“NZ Bus, Tramways and FIRST Union have agreed to continue discussions to complete their collective bargaining process and AT looks forward to this leading to positive outcomes for drivers and Auckland bus users.

“We’d also like to thank our bus customers for their patience during this time, as well as for their ongoing support for Auckland’s hard-working bus drivers.”

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