Press Release – Monday, 6 August 2012

Union Stop Work Meeting to Disrupt Bus Services on Friday August 10th

NZ Bus is currently in negotiation with Tramways and First Union, who represent 900 Operators in Auckland, for a new Collective Agreement (CA). The unions have requested a stop work meeting to discuss the current offer with their members on Friday August 10th from 1-4pm.

NZ Bus has requested the time of the union meeting be held earlier in the day to ensure less disruption to services and our customers, particularly school services, but the unions have not agreed to change the time.

“It’s disappointing that the unions have not agreed to hold their meeting a couple of hours earlier, when the impact to our customers and school services could be minimised”, said Shane McMahon of NZ Bus.

Negotiations have been conducted in three sessions totaling ten days, followed by four days of mediation. Whilst the natural tension points exist as they do with all collective negotiations, dialogue has been mostly constructive to date.

The offer on the table is to increase wages by 6.6% over 27 months in three movements. The offer would see Operators receive $20 per hour by April 2014, which places them at the forefront of hourly rates in Auckland. Operators in Auckland also received a 3.3% increase in February of this year. NZ Bus is committed to moving wages forward, while also remaining competitive and securing a long term future for all of our people.

NZ Bus wish to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused and will advise more details on those services impacted by the stop work meeting.

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