Bus workers will report despite lock-out threat

Bus workers will report for work, despite lock-out threat

More than a thousand Auckland bus workers facing being locked out in a row over 10 cents an hour say they will report for work as usual on Wednesday morning.

Infratil-owned NZ Bus has told the workers, including 875 drivers, that they will be barred from 4am on Wednesday – a move likely to plunge Auckland’s public transport system into chaos.

The lock-out will affect staff at the Metrolink, Go West, Waka Pacific, North Star, Link and City Circuit bus services.

Spokesman Karl Andersen says that the workers want the dispute settled without disruption to the travelling public, and are dismayed that the company is taking such a hard line and locking them out.

He says they have already cut their pay claim from $1 an hour to 70 cents an hour, while the company has increased its starting offer by just 7 cents an hour over a three-year period.

“We’ve been trying to renegotiate the collective agreement since early June,” he said. “We’ve made substantial concessions in what we’re claiming, and now there’s only 10 cents an hour between our position and theirs.

“Now, when we say we’re going to take some very minor industrial action, they say they’re going to lock these workers out.”

Last week the workers gave notice of a work-to-rule, which meant they would be “sticking to the manual” and not doing anything extra, like skipping breaks when buses are running late.

They also said they would not be sending the computer information that informs passengers waiting at stops where the bus is, and would not do the last run of the shift if they were running late.

“It was nothing that would have affected the safe operation of the buses, but the company is using it as an excuse to take a hard line and lock the workers out, which will affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of Aucklanders who use the buses,” Mr Andersen said.

The drivers earn between $14.05 and $16.75 an hour. Many work split-shifts, which means they have to spend up to four unpaid hours a day, waiting for the next part of their shift to start. Some of these drivers are away from home up to 15 hours , yet are paid for just eight or nine hours. They get an allowance of just $4.12 for these broken shifts.

Mr Andersen says that Infratil, which owns NZ Bus, can well afford to pay the 70 cents an hour the workers are seeking.

“Infratil’s operating revenue is up 28 per cent, and public transport use in Auckland is at a 25-year high. NZ Bus says that passenger numbers in Auckland are up 6.9 per cent in the year to July.”

The parties have agreed to return to mediation tomorrow morning (Tuesday).

The workers are members of the Akarana Public Drivers’ Association, the Auckland Tramways Union, the National Distribution Union and the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union.

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