Waikato Regional Council has voted to allocate a Christmas bonus totalling $200,000 for bus drivers.

This amounts to about $1000 for a full-time worker and recognises the job they have done through COVID-19 lockdowns in the region.

There’s also good news for SuperGold Card holders, who will have their free travel extended to include peak service times from 1 March 2022.

The recommendations were among a number made by the Regional Connections Committee, who last month heard from Living Wage Aotearoa and First Union, which represents bus drivers.

Regional Connections Committee chair Angela Strange said: “Our council has worked hard to ensure we are doing the right thing by our bus drivers. They’re the public face of our services and have continued right through COVID-19 lockdowns and changing requirements over the last 18 months or more.

“In the Waikato we are struggling to get enough bus drivers for our services, an issue which is being experienced right across New Zealand.

“Our decisions are a meaningful gesture in recognition of a workforce which enables us to get people safely from A to B, and it will hopefully go some way to attracting more people to this profession,” Cr Strange said.

Commenting on the planned extension of the SuperGold Card in the Waikato, Cr Strange said: “We have an ageing population and enabling our SuperGold Card holders to travel any time on any bus or Te Huia train service will be a gamechanger. It will give older generations unable to drive the greater flexibility they need to get from A to B and as a result I expect we’ll see an increase in patronage,” Cr Strange said.

During the final full council meeting of 2021 on Thursday, 9 December, regional councillors voted to enter into an agreement with Go Bus to enable a voluntary one-off payment of $200,000. This will be distributed as a bonus for existing bus drivers and cleaners to acknowledge the value of the workforce and the gap between wages paid and the living wage between 1 September 2020 and 31 August 2021.

Councillors also voted in favour of a variation to existing bus contracts which would enable the payment of $22.75 per hour for public transport workers, backdated to 1 September 2021.

The cost of doing so will be funded by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (51 per cent) and Waikato Regional Council (49 per cent).

In addition, the council will continue to work with Go Bus to ensure wages for public transport workers are not less than the living wage from 2022 onwards.

Waikato Regional Council also agreed to lobby the appropriate agencies for living wage indexation from 2022 onwards.

During debate concern was raised around the council not having a living wage policy that extended beyond its staff. In response, councillors backed a motion to investigate a policy to pay all contracted services the living wage rate, too.

Councillors also agreed to request that the appropriate Government minister define living wage amounts and updates.

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