By Terry Coggan May 24, 2021
WELLINGTON, New Zealand Over 50 bus drivers in a 24-hour strike against NZ Bus staged a spirited picket outside its Kilbirnie depot here April 23. The company responded by locking workers out.
The drivers voted 204-2 at an April 14 meeting of their union, the New Zealand Tramways Union, Wellington Branch, to strike in protest against company demands to eliminate overtime pay.
The company is offering a pay raise of up to 4 New Zealand dollars an hour ($2.88), to NZ$23.75, but wants to cut overtime premiums, which include double pay for working after midnight and on Sundays, and time and a half on Saturdays. This would eliminate the pay raise and much more. Bosses also want to eliminate one week of drivers’ annual holidays.
There is no pay freeze; there is in fact scope to discuss cost of living increases, New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (CTU) president Richard Wagstaff told Newshub. We feel like we were heard. We feel like this thing has gone back on course. It was going off course.
It sure was. Unions have been coming at the Government from every angle, furious about the pay restraint. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met them on Tuesday trying to smooth it all over. We were very frank and open about the depth of feeling that our members have, New Zealand Public Service Association (PSA) National Secretary Kerry Davies told Newshub.
All DHB members were responsible to the health minister rather than their local community. Fees paid to chairs, deputy chairs and members varied according to the size of the DHB area and ranged from about $13,000 to $80,000 for chairs, and $6510 to more than $40,000 for members.
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Professor Robin Gauld, of the University of Otago’s Centre for Health Systems and Technology, says health board fees will be better spent on improving skills and expertise within the public health system rather than on consultants. The health minister decided how much each DHB member received based on a fees framework for board members of Crown entities.
Report from RNZ
Trade unions have expressed shock at the NZ Bus decision to lock out unionised bus drivers in Wellington and are demanding that the Wellington Regional Council take action.
A continuous lockout of Tramways Union members will start from 4am this Saturday, after the 24-hour strike which followed a breakdown in collective agreement negotiations with NZ Bus.
The bus firm is owned by Australian company Next Capital.
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff called the decision a direct attack on bus drivers in an attempt to cut pay and conditions of employment. He said such tactics by a corporate had no place in New Zealand society.
Photo: Facebook / NZ Bus
A continuous lockout of Tramways Union members will start from 4am this Saturday. The union today announced a 24-hour strike from 4am on Friday after a breakdown in collective agreement negotiations with NZ Bus.
The bus firm is owned by Australian company Next Capital.
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff called the decision a direct attack on bus drivers in an attempt to cut pay and conditions of employment. He said such tactics by a corporate had no place in New Zealand society. This is a situation where a big Aussie venture capital company is trying to bludgeon a vulnerable workforce into submission with an indefinite lockout, he said.