Minister Twyford’s announcement this morning of reform of the Public Transport Operating Model (PTOM) will be a timely fix for bad legislation that has cost jobs and pay for drivers and left public transport systems broken says New Zealand Council of Trade Unions President Richard Wagstaff.

PTOM was introduced in 2013 with the intention of increasing private sector competition in public transport - a move that has seen competitive tendering drive down wages and conditions across the sector.

Wagstaff says PTOM has never worked. "This operating model has been a fiasco since day one. Change can’t come soon enough.

"PTOM has left public transport systems underfunded and fractured, it’s cost people in the industry their jobs and driven down pay and conditions for many of those who have stayed. It holds a big share of the blame for the failures in public transport we’ve seen in the last few years.

"Let’s hope we can get on with rebuilding our public transport system so it works for everyone, especially the people that work in it and who have faced so much uncertainty over the past few years."

ENDS

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