Commuter chaos ahead

Hundreds of Wellington bus drivers have voted to strike next month if their pay dispute with bus operators is not resolved.

The Tramways Union, which represents more than 90 per cent of the Wellington region’s drivers, said yesterday it would strike on October 23 if a collective agreement had not been reached with bus operators Tranzit Group or Uzabus.

Masterton-based Tranzit runs 60 per cent of the region’s bus services, including half of Wellington City services, while Uzabus runs 6 per cent.

Union secretary Kevin O’Sullivan said the vote to strike was a last resort.

‘‘We have been trying to get Tranzit to negotiate for months.

‘‘We still have no offer from them or any indication they are taking the bargaining seriously. This is why we have now had to set a deadline.’’

Drivers at a stop-work meeting yesterday also passed a unanimous vote of no confidence in the Greater Wellington Regional Council, which oversees the region’s public transport network, and called for a commissioner to run the network instead.

Tranzit Group managing director Paul Snelgrove said it had been in talks with the union since last year, and mediated collective bargaining discussions since last month.

He understood around 233 drivers attended yesterday’s meeting, 29 of whom he said represented the Tranzurban operators in Wellington and Hutt Valley.

‘‘The majority of our drivers are happy and we are going to continue to work damn hard to keep them happy.’’

O’Sullivan said it had become clear that the council had no intention of fixing the industrial dispute, or the public transport system.

‘‘They need to have it taken away from them before they make matters worse.

‘‘There is no way that Wellington’s bus system can be fixed without a fair deal for drivers.

‘‘Until this is settled, the driver shortage will continue, the industrial action will continue, and drivers will continue to have no reason to even try to make this broken system work.’’