Hutt bus strike ‘must end’: Laban

The Tramways Union and bus operator Tranzit need to sit in a room and not come out until a deal has been reached over drivers’ pay and conditions, says Greater Wellington regional councillor Ken Laban.

More than 40 bus services were tipped to be affected in the Hutt Valley yesterday as 50 union members – who work for Tranzit – cut their shifts to a standard eight-hour day, after being made to work ‘‘illegal’’ shifts of up to 14 hours long.

The drivers say they will refuse to work longer than eight hours every day until their collective agreement dispute is settled, meaning disruptions will continue today.

Laban, who represents the Lower Hutt constituency, said he was on the union’s side when it came to drivers’ terms and conditions being retained during the recent contract changeover.

‘‘I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect that the drivers should be entitled to the same, or better, work conditions. I support the union and I support the call for drivers to be better remunerated.’’

The parties needed to quickly settle their differences for the sake of commuters, many of whom were ratepayers who helped to pay for public transport.

‘‘In my view, the union and Tranzit need to sit down in a room, lock the door, and neither of them should come out until they’ve reached a deal.

‘‘That to me is not an unreasonable expectation. If that’s not going to happen then we’ve got to take another course of action.

‘‘At the end of the day, what we’re talking about is a number. Tranzit are not prepared to move on their number and the union won’t budge ... So someone needs to get a slap on the wrist.’’

But the council could only ‘‘bang the door’’ when it came to influencing negotiations, he said.

‘‘My understanding is that Tranzit’s not even prepared to be in the room. That’s not a negotiation, is it?’’

The strike action was expected to put further pressure on public transport schedules for commuters already dealing with the ramifications of Wellington’s largest bus network change taking place over recent days.

Tranzit group managing director Paul Snelgrove said despite the animosity by union bosses, it had shrugged off the expected union action and run all its commuter and school bus services in the Hutt Valley and Wellington yesterday without disruption.

Some commuters begged to differ. St Patrick’s College teacher Peter Webb said many students reported buses were either extremely late or did not show up.

‘‘The union and Tranzit need to sit down in a room, lock the door, and neither of them should come out until they’ve reached a deal.’’ Greater Wellington regional councillor Ken Laban