The wheels on the bus go round and round...

The wheels on the bus go round and round...

Until they fall off amidst strike action

Transport sector strikes continue.

Bus drivers in Queenstown will now walk off the job over negotiations that are going nowhere and unsafe buses. Members at Ritchie’s Queenstown have voted to take strike action from midnight Thursday 7th of March to midnight Friday 8th of March.

Despite three bargaining sessions Ritchies has refused to move on any wage increases for the Queenstown drivers and refuses to attend mediation. The Queenstown drivers are negotiating on the same collective agreement but a separate pay rate schedule to Dunedin drivers who took strike action over the weekend.

The Queenstown bus drivers are asking for $21 dollars an hour to keep up with the cost of living in what is known as one of the most expensive places to live in New Zealand. There are also serious health and safety concerns over the lack of a health and safety committee, a lack of training and buses that are so neglected air-con units don’t work and wheels are literally falling off moving buses.

FIRST Union Organiser Ken Young says pay is a mammoth issue for anyone working in Queenstown.

“We think Auckland’s bad, rents in Queenstown take a huge chunk out of someone’s income and to expect drivers to live off anything less than $21 dollars an hour in this town is frankly inhumane. Early on they were trying to attract workers and assist with accommodation but they’re now saying they’re going to withdraw that support. I don’t know how they expect people to live and asides from that, they’re not valuing the skill, responsibility and the long hours these drivers do. The company has also changed bus routes without consulting members and it has resulted in some members incurring a loss of income of up to $200 dollars a week. We will be taking legal action on this matter also.”

Mr Young says members have a handful of very serious health and safety concerns with the company.

“Just days after members voted for this strike action a wheel fell off a moving bus so their concerns are warranted. Drivers and passengers also have to put up with air-con units that don’t work and with the extremes that are the seasons in Queenstown this has created some very uncomfortable, sometimes dangerous situations; we have had instances where it’s got so hot that the driver has had to pull over and let everyone off the bus. In winter, drivers are also forced to shut off their engines and take breaks in isolated areas where there are no toilets or alternative sources of warmth. The state of buses, they’re just simply not fit for purpose. The company has most definitely failed in its duty and care here.”

“Members are also concerned about the lack of a health and safety committee and inexperienced drivers being put straight out onto small country roads. A lack of training around winter driving conditions is also a concern.”

He says it’s time local Council stepped in.

“It’s time the Otago Regional Council gave the contract to someone else instead of just accepting the lowest offer for those routes, the PTOM model, where bus companies are awarded contracts from councils solely on how cheap they can provide the service, not on the quality of the service is partly to blame for a lot of these issues.”

ENDS

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