Socialist Equality Group holds online meeting on New Zealand bus drivers’ dispute
The Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand held an important online meeting last Saturday to discuss the way forward for NZ Bus drivers in Wellington, who voted on June 23 to reject a sellout agreement backed by the Tramways Union.
The meeting made the case for building rank-and-file committees, independent and opposed to the unions, to break the isolation of the 280-odd drivers, and to expand the struggle for decent jobs, wages and conditions by linking up with other workers in New Zealand and internationally. It featured speakers from New Zealand, Australia and Britain.
New Zealand bus driver explains why union-backed sellout was rejected
On June 23, hundreds of NZ Bus drivers in Wellington voted to reject a sellout deal hatched between the company and the Tramways Union. It was the third offer rejected by the drivers, who are among the lowest-paid workers in New Zealand, many receiving the minimum wage of $20 an hour or less.
Since then, the media and the union have remained silent, as union officials re-entered negotiations, keeping workers in the dark. Only some details of the rejected offer were made public. It would have increased wages to $22.10 per hour, funded not by NZ Bus, but by a subsidy from the Labour Party-led Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), which contracts NZ Bus and other private companies to provide bus services.