Concern reopening borders could trigger bus driver exodus stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Press Release – FIRST Union
The familiar pattern of bad faith bargaining by bosses, industrial action by workers and bus cancellations for passengers could be avoided once and for all if we are able to learn from recent clashes in Wellington and deal with ultimate culprit – the Public Transport Operating Model (PTOM) – which is currently being reviewed by Government, FIRST Union said today.
As part of the Government’s review of PTOM, FIRST Union has submitted (attached) that private contracting of essential bus services to companies like NZ Bus, Go Bus and Ritchies has resulted in stagnating wages, inefficiency, precarity of employment and that PTOM is unlikely to be fit for purpose in a future that requires compliance with climate change goals as well as fairness for transport workers.
Opinion by Jared Abbott of FIRST Union
The familiar pattern of bad faith bargaining by bosses, industrial action by workers and bus cancellations for passengers could be avoided once and for all if we are able to learn from recent clashes in Wellington and deal with ultimate culprit – the Public Transport Operating Model (PTOM) – which is currently being reviewed by the Government.
As part of the Government’s review of PTOM, FIRST Union has submitted that private contracting of essential bus services to companies like NZ Bus, Go Bus and Ritchies has resulted in stagnating wages, inefficiency, precarity of employment and that PTOM is unlikely to be fit for purpose in a future that requires compliance with climate change goals as well as fairness for transport workers.
Rosa Woods/Stuff
Greater Wellington Regional Council chairman Daran Ponter is leading the charge to being buses back into public ownership. The key change would make it much easier for councils to buy and run buses rather than sending contracts out for tender. It would not necessarily mean councils retaking ownership of buses but would make that a viable option. If the plan went ahead, it would bring Wellington’s buses back into public ownership for the first time since 1992. It would also mean the regional council being brought into the often-fraught topic of bus drivers’ pay and conditions. That issue, with Wellington’s buses now predominantly owned by private companies Tranzurban and NZ Bus, saw NZ Bus drivers locked out when negotiations stalled in April. A court ended that lockout. There was a subsequent 24-hour strike and a second one was stopped when the company and union struck a deal, yet to be approved by members, this week.