Bus firms welcome fund pledge

BUS companies have welcomed a pledge of extra money from the Otago Regional Council (ORC) so they can pay drivers more, but say they are operating in a tough market.

Go Bus Transport chief operating officer Nigel Piper said increased funding for wages would assist in attracting and retaining staff.

Any increase would be well received by drivers and was helpful, but extra funding was still short of driving wages to where they needed to get to, he said.

Ritchies Transport spokeswoman Sharon Scott said pay was one factor contributing to a shortage of drivers.

‘‘Drivers will be very appreciative of this decision from the council and it’ll be helpful with the challenges of recruitment at this time of driver shortage,’’ she said.

The bus companies have been running reduced timetables in Dunedin and Queenstown, and the ORC has cited high levels of driver illness as a reason.

Dunedin Tramways Union president Alan Savell challenged that narrative this week, shifting the focus to pay and conditions.

Mr Savell said this week the region had enough qualified drivers, but they were choosing not to work in the industry.

The ORC decided on Wednesday to top up funding to bus operators to enable drivers to attain this year’s living wage.

It has not yet been established when the extra pay will land in driver bank accounts.

Mr Piper said the timing of the additional funding being passed on to drivers depended on final arrangements with the ORC.

Ms Scott said Ritchies was awaiting information.

‘‘We recently moved rates of pay for a number of our drivers nationally and like all employers in this tough market, [we] are appreciative of any additional funding,’’ she said.

Ms Scott said Ritchies had been doing a lot nationally to encourage more people to consider bus driving as a career.

Asked if it was the responsibility of bus companies to pay drivers sufficiently to ensure there were enough to carry out the services for which they were contracted, Mr Piper said contracts were at a fixed price.

‘‘We do not have the ability to recover wage increases by increasing contract prices to the council.’’

Mr Piper said the shortage was ‘‘real, particularly when we are coping with high rates of illness and Covid’’.

‘‘We are working closely with the Otago Regional Council to develop pathways for people into the industry.’’

Bus and Coach Association of New Zealand chief executive Ben McFadgen said bus driving was a skilled role that had been undervalued and gradually eroded through a tendering system that prioritised lowest cost over public value.

‘‘Every positive step that the sector takes is a step towards raising the profile and perception of bus driving as a valued career,’’ he said.

The Government recently announced planned changes to delivery of public transport, including allowing councils to run services inhouse.

Mr McFadgen said the transport sector was disappointed by another recent announcement from the Government about immigration settings.

Greater Wellington Regional Council was one organisation that had argued bus drivers should be classed as skilled migrants, but they were not included in a series of changes announced this week.

‘‘There is a severe driver shortage in New Zealand currently that, in the immediate term, will not be resolved through the current wage and conditions intervention the Government is promoting,’’ Mr McFadgen said.

‘‘Bus driving is a skilled role, yet it is being treated as if it is unskilled.

‘‘There is a viable pathway that the Government can use to help mitigate the current labour challenge.

‘‘This pathway has been recognised as viable for other sectors, such as hospitality, tourism and construction, who require skilled roles for their operations.’’