Pay row veers towards strike
Wellington bus drivers are growing increasingly frustrated as a dispute over pay during Covid-19 alert level 3 and 4 stretches into its fifth month.
One driver, who did not wish to be named, told Stuff they would be willing to strike if the issue was not resolved.
‘‘I’m out of pocket about $1600 at least, if not two grand. There’s probably at least 200 other drivers at Tranzurban who are in the same boat,’’ they said.
Tranzurban drivers who could not work or had hours affected during the lockdown were paid the equivalent of their weekly rostered hours.
However, long overtime shifts are common and many drivers regularly work 60 to 70 hours per week.
The Tramways Union says the bus drivers should have been paid based on their average weekly earnings over the past year, not rostered hours.
‘‘Tranzurban have been really, really bad about this,’’ the driver said.
‘‘They’re sitting on this money and it should have been paid to the drivers. Or have they taken this money and used it to prop up other parts of their business which have fallen through?
‘‘It’s got to the point where . . . we would love to have a no-fares strike to highlight that we haven’t been paid.’’
The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) gave $110 million to public transport providers to pay for free public transport and to cover wages for all employees during alert level 3 and 4.
In a memo sent to bus companies, NZTA told operators they were obligated to ensure employees were ‘‘not financially disadvantaged by Covid-19’’.
Barbara Tebbs of NZTA was aware of the dispute, but said the agency was not involved in employer-employee relationships.
The agency had ‘‘provided extra payment to councils to ensure they could continue to pay the full contract price to their public transport service operators’’, she said.
Tramways secretary Kevin O’Sullivan said he was not going to give up. ‘‘It’s not something I’m going to leave,’’ he said.
‘‘Those people are owed lots of money ... It’s not right, especially considering [Tranzurban] got the money, fully funded, to pay people properly.’’
He said he knew of one driver on a part-time contract who was only paid $200 a week during the lockdown, even though the driver regularly worked upwards of 60 hours a week.
A similar dispute with another Wellington bus company, NZ Bus, was resolved in June, with drivers receiving backpay to reflect their average earnings.
The Tramways Union has made official complaints to Transport Minister Phil Twyford and the auditorgeneral’s office.
The auditor-general’s office said investigating private companies was outside its mandate, but it has instructed NZTA and the Greater Wellington Regional Council to investigate bus operators to ensure wage subsidies had been paid out correctly.
Metlink general manager Scott Gallacher said talks were under way with NZTA to ‘‘fully understand this issue and ensure that that our amazing essential workforce is paid in line with Government expectations for alert levels 3 and 4’’.
‘‘The unions have been in regular contact with us, for which we have been very appreciative. Bus drivers are the backbone of public transport and have been praised for their extraordinary service to passengers throughout Covid-19,’’ he said.
‘‘We are continuing to engage with all operators to ensure they are doing the right thing for their staff.’’
Tranzurban did not respond to a request for comment.