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.