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Todd Niall/Stuff
Bus shelters will be looking empty over the long weekend as negotiations between unionised drivers and NZ Bus have resulted in shut down of a third of the region’s routes.
Around a third of Auckland’s bus services will be “suspended indefinitely” from Friday morning after a break down in negotiations between NZ Bus and its drivers.
Auckland Transport said it had been advised that NZ Bus was suspending all bus trips it operates after it failed to reach a collective agreement with drivers represented by Tramways and First Union.
The suspension will affect 35% of the region’s bus network, including its Link routes.
The decision by NZ Bus follows threats from its drivers to refuse to operate Hop card machines from Friday to Saturday.
It would have meant that bus users would have travelled for free.
READ MORE:
* Wellington bus lockout to end after court grants injunction against NZ Bus
* Auckland bus drivers eke out further pay rise, but not quite $30 an hour
* Auckland bus drivers restart strike action in dispute over pay and conditions
Affected services:
- CityLINK, InnerLINK, OuterLINK, TamakiLINK
- 101, 105, 106, 110, 122, 125, 125X, 128, 129, 14T, 14W, 162, 18
- 20, 22N, 22R, 24B, 24R, 25B, 25L, 252, 253, 27H, 27W, 295
- 30, 321, 333X
- 64, 650, 670, 68
- 75, 751, 755, 76, 774, 775, 781
- 801, 802, 805, 806, 807, 814, 82, 842, 843, 871
- 923, 924
Supplied/Stuff
Drivers from NZ Bus have been striking since Tuesday in an effort to get better pay and one year agreement.
AT Executive General Manager Public Transport Services Stacey van der Putten said the suspension of services would affect 4000 trips per day, including school services.
“I hope that the unions and NZ Bus are able to quickly resolve this dispute so that tens of thousands of Aucklanders aren’t unnecessarily inconvenienced over the next week as they return from the school holidays,” van der Putten said.
She said she understood that the current offer from NZ Bus on the table would have seen drivers paid more than $30 per hour average wage.
This weekend’s sporting events at Mt Smart’s Go Media Stadium will continue as planned, with train services to Penrose train station and existing scheduled bus services provided by other operators.
Anthony Phelps/STUFF
Auckland’s bus drivers say they don’t want to be locked into a two-year agreement that would see them without raises to meet inflation.
NZ Bus had offered drivers a new pay agreement that would have lasted two years, but Tramways president Gary Froggat said that meant that they would be locked in for too long without pay rises.
“We were nearly there, but we couldn’t reach an agreement,” he said.
Froggatt said NZ Bus had “threatened” to suspend union members without pay for strike action from the start of negotiations.
“It’s something members will have to take into consideration tomorrow,” he said.
Drivers have been on strike in Auckland during peak hours since Tuesday.
The unions say bus drivers are currently paid $26.76 per hour. They want this to increase to $30 per hour, to match their colleagues in other cities.
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