Auckland commuters were spared chaos this morning after Stage-coach bus drivers called off a stopwork meeting set to discuss an industrial dispute.

The bus driver’s union called off a seven hour stop-work meeting scheduled for today because it estimated 30,000 passengers around Auckland would be forced to take alternative vehicular transport to work. It was also believed the action was illegal due to some drivers being on contracts yet to run their term.

The stop-work meeting was called so bus drivers could discuss a new collective contract offered last week by Stagecoach management. The company had stated that the meeting would be illegal had had threatened to take the matter to the employment court, the hearing was set for 5pm yesterday but called off after the drivers decided to show up for work.

The drivers are reportedly upset at conditions in the three year collective contract which would see split shifts with up to 5 and a half hours worked without a break, and the exclusion of morning and afternoon tea breaks.

The drivers had also rejected an offered payrise of 2 percent a year.

The contract is designed to replace those covering drivers on old Cityline and Yellow Bus Company collective contracts.

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