Bus lockout ends but pay row unresolved

Auckland commuters were back on the buses today, but the row which started the bus lockout seven days ago is unresolved.

The 900 drivers employed by NZ Bus, the biggest bus transport company in Auckland, were locked out last Thursday morning when they refused to lift their work to rule notice over a wage claim.

The drivers said their action would have caused minimal disruption, but the company said it was a strike action and locked the gates.

The action forced 80,000 passengers onto buses run by other companies, trains or into their cars, and students had to find alternative transport to get to and from school.

The drivers said the work to rule would remain in place until the pay dispute was settled, but yesterday the company said the lockout would end if the drivers ended their work to rule.

The drivers met at Alexandra Park, in Greenlane, the work to rule was suspended and the drivers returned to work today, when the lockout was lifted.

However, the drivers rejected an offer made at an Employment Relations Authority (ERA) facilitation meeting and were due to go back to the negotiating table with the company in facilitation today.

The bus company said the main objective was to get the buses back on the road but said the basic dispute had not been settled.

The ERA recommendation, which had not been made public, would be accepted by the company but was rejected by the drivers.

The union had rejected the company offer of a pay rise totalling $1.80 an hour in three instalments over three years but the union wanted the increase over 29 months and an increase in their overtime rate.

NZ Bus lost $1.1 million in subsidies from the Auckland Regional Transport Authority for failing to deliver on its contract and provide bus services. Drivers and cleaners were believed to have lost a similar amount.

The drivers are paid between $14.05 and $16.75 an hour.

NZPA