Auckland buses resume service after third strike in a week

Friday, 15 February 2019

Auckland bus drivers were striking over 'management issues' with NZ Bus in February.

An Auckland commuter will be an hour late for work after bus services were cancelled due to the third strike in a week.

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Auckland Transport (AT) said some buses in Onehunga would not operate on Friday morning due to the NZ Bus drivers' strike, which was called without notice.

Some bus services in Onehunga would not be running on Friday morning.

About eight bus routes were affected. Services returned to schedule about 10am.

*** Buses cancelled on Auckland's North Shore due to staff strike

* Buses cancelled in Swanson, West Auckland**

The strike followed protests by NZ Bus drivers on February 8 and 12 at the Swanson and Glenfield depots respectively.

Both were planned by drivers, unbeknownst to both AT and First Union.

Emir Hodzic, First Union's bus sector coordinator, understood an agreement had been made between NZ Bus and the drivers to resume service at 9am.

Hodzic previously told Stuff the drivers had walked off the job due to 'management issues' not being resolved.

Those included inadequate training, driver fatigue and a lack of consultation on rostering and duty changes, he said.

The workers were upset because NZ Bus cancelled a mediation on January 30 and were refusing to allocate time for a new session.

Hodzic said the company was trying to use a regular meeting for mediation, but drivers suspected the time allocated would be too short to resolve their differences.

'We are going to continuously try to engage the company to try to resolve this as soon as possible,' Hodzic said.

AT would fine bus companies for missing contracted services, he believed.

Hodzic and AT media relations manager Mark Hannan were both unaware of Friday morning's strike when initially contacted for comment.

Gary Froggatt, the Auckland and national president of the Tramways Union, earlier said the protests were likely to worsen as bus drivers' frustration rose.

'They've had enough – I've got a feeling it's going to get worse.'

The urban bus sector was struggling to attract and retain staff for work which could span 14 hours a day, he said.

Commuter Anthony Dimaculangan waited an hour to catch his bus into Onehunga and eventually took a different route.

There were many other commuters at the bus stop who were 'lost and confused', he said.

He was disappointed that it was a strike without notice, as he would be an hour late for work.

'I called my boss and she also wasn't aware. I informed them there was a bus strike so maybe my colleagues will be late as well.'

However, Imaculangan credited his bus driver for being accommodating and keeping passengers informed.

Meanwhile, train services between Pukekohe and Papakura in south Auckland were cancelled on Friday morning due to a track fault.

The fault was resolved about 7.55am and services were resumed.

'Please expect some minor delays while this happens,' AT said.

NZ Bus has been contacted for comment.