strike

Timaru bus drivers are planning to strike for a week, effectively putting buses off the road.

The action involves about 10 drivers and comes after attempts to gain an increase in the minimum pay rate they receive, Amalgamated Workers Union spokesman Lindsay Chappell said yesterday.

The strike will run for seven days from Monday, July 21, and comes as a result of their employer's -- Timaru Bus Service Ltd -- "continued disregard for realistic wage rates," Mr Chappell said. "Our members regret it has come to this as they have the greatest respect and regard for the community who have been very supportive through the dispute."

It is illegal for the operator to attempt to use other drivers during the strike period.

While the drivers felt a responsibility to the community, Mr Chappell said they could not continue to work for the $12 an hour they receive or the $13 the company was now offering. There was also the issue of drivers not being paid for extra time when they finished a run late due to traffic delays or roadworks.

Their Christchurch counterparts, who have the same employer, are paid $16.85 an hour and $17.05 an hour after two years. The Timaru wages are the lowest rate paid by any South Island passenger service.

The drivers received $2 an hour more when employed by the service's previous contractor, Ritchies Transport. Mr Chappell said the drivers have been attempting to negotiate better wages and conditions since the company won the contract 18 months ago.

"Ecan chose the successful tender and, on this occasion, the lowest price, which clearly was based on the minimum wage for labour. "This is what the system is allowing and we ask what Ecan is doing with the savings made by the comparative pricing procedures.

"The public are paying for this service in their rates and you can guarantee there has been no rebate as a result of this tender process," Mr Chappell said.

Auckland's gruelling bus dispute is unlikely to go anywhere this week, even though both sides say they hope to return to mediation to head off any more strikes next month.

Stagecoach says it is ready to meet union negotiators before a mediator at any time, while continuing to insist it has no more money to offer drivers after their six-day strike, which ended last Tuesday. But it acknowledges a meeting is unlikely during a week-long absence overseas of combined unions advocate Gary Froggatt, although drivers say their negotiators could respond to any approaches in the meantime.

The company has also re-submitted an application to the Employment Relations Authority for it to make the first binding pay ruling under new industrial law, on the basis of an alleged "serious and sustained" breach of good faith by union negotiators, which they deny. A hearing will begin on June 14 unless a settlement is reached first.

Stagecoach executive chairman Ross Martin says the company is prepared to give mediation another chance, despite 750 drivers voting on Wednesday by more than 13 to 1 to reject a new pay offer - one that even some union negotiators thought might have been acceptable.

The drivers held to their claim for an immediate pay rise to $16 an hour, and added a surprise demand for $17 in November, although they decided to refrain from any more industrial action until early next month. They held a stopwork meeting after Stagecoach doubled to $1200 a previous offer of cash in lieu of six months' backpay, but refused to lift the first instalment of a three-year wage regime above $15.

The only new movement from previous offers was of 7c an hour to $15.40 from November next year, and drivers were furious at being asked to wait until mid-2007 for $16.

But despite the drivers' added claim and militant mood, Mr Froggatt has since indicated they might settle for $16 if the company offers that before a deadline of June 7 set by the stopwork meeting, after which there could be more strikes.

He acknowledged that a lower settlement for drivers at Stagecoach's main Auckland rival, Ritchies Transport, could undermine the claim to some extent but said unions would keep pushing the larger company to set the benchmark for the rest of the industry. National Distribution Union organiser Karl Andersen confirmed the Ritchies deal at $14.05 an hour without overtime rates this year, rising to $14.60 next year. This compares with $13.20 previously paid to Ritchies drivers, and $13.94 received now by their Stagecoach counterparts, who also earn penal rates for overtime.

Mr Martin said Stagecoach had put "huge dollars on the table, and way more than Ritchies, and they are our major competitor in Auckland".

Ritchies director Andrew Ritchie said he did not want to be drawn into Stagecoach's dispute. What he paid his staff was nobody else's business. He said his company offered them greater flexibility to work more hours and hence earn more than Stagecoach drivers, and he believed a lower staff turnover indicated a happier workforce.

The Council of Trade Unions has meanwhile come out in support of the Stagecoach drivers' pay claim, after a vote last week of its affiliates council representing more than 300,000 union members. President Ross Wilson said he had offered to take a support role in the drivers' negotiations, was in contact with Mr Froggatt in Australia, and had already spoken to Mr Martin.

Hourly wages
* Waiheke Buses: $14.92 - due to rise to $15.37 in July. No extra overtime rate.
* Birkenhead Transport: $14.68 (average after including industry allowance) - due for renegotiation soon. Extra overtime rate.
* Howick and Eastern: $14.17 - due for renegotiation soon. Overtime extra.
* Urban Express: $14.05. No overtime rate.
* Ritchie Transport: $14.05 - to rise to $14.60 next year. No overtime rate.
* Stagecoach: $13.94 - has offered $15 now, $15.40 late next year, $16 in 2007. Overtime extra.