Unions can say 'we told you so' on NZTA
Friday, 14 December 2018
OPINION: The controversial resignation of the top boss at what is supposed to be New Zealand's transport safety watchdog didn't come as a shock to unions, whose warnings had been falling on deaf ears for years.
New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) chief executive, Fergus Gammie, said in his statement: 'The Transport Agency has long been focused and reliant on education and self-regulation rather than focusing attention and resources on ensuring regulatory compliance and enforcement.'
First Union is calling for a large-scale turnaround in the culture and work practices of NZTA, for the safety of our transport membership and the public.
Recent media surrounding the warrant of fitness scandal, which has resulted in thousands of potentially hazardous heavy vehicles on our roads having to be retested, may have been the catalyst for his resignations – but it's not the full story.
**READ MORE:
* Transport agency review finds more evidence of serious incidents and crashes
* Government has no idea how many unsafe cars are on the road
* First Union slams slack bus maintenance standards**
My confidence in the NZTA was already well shaken before this story came out. First Union has been raising serious concerns with NZTA for years, as have others.
In June there was the issue with certifying tow bars on heavy vehicles. At the time RNZ reported that the agency's sole heavy vehicle certification auditor, John Long, had been warning the agency for years about this. We have also seen a raft of stories on fatalities involving heavy vehicles on our roads.
In April, First Union analysed Auckland Transport GPS information, obtained under the Official Information Act, against Go Bus' duty rosters and found that the company was regularly requiring drivers to continue beyond the prescribed five-and-a-half hours' work before allowing them their half-hour break time.
This was concrete evidence of a serious health and safety issue that the union had already alerted Gammie to in September 2016. The response we received from NZTA was disappointing.
'Since raising this matter with Go-Bus Transport they have addressed this by changing run 1802. They have also reviewed a large number of other runs to check against compliance with work time limits, and are engaging with Auckland Transport on future timetable changes. In considering all the circumstances, and the Transport Agency's own guidelines, I have decided that no further action will be taken against Go-Bus Transport in respect of this matter.'
Essentially NZTA had raised the matter with the company and expected that in future, Go Bus would self-regulate. The company was not penalised in any way. In July, Stuff alerted us to the fact that the number of serious bus crashes rose by 40 in the last year alone.
At the same time our bus members were telling us that they were leaving the industry and quitting because they couldn't handle the long hours or the fear of killing someone.
Surely, NZTA could have and should have intervened much sooner and much more directly. A fatigued bus driver or truck driver is a serious risk to the whole community.
The future of the NZTA is under review by the Ministry of Transport.
Transport Minister Phil Twyford said that the review would focus on the backlog of 850 regulatory compliance cases concerning vehicle certifiers, training course providers, licensing agents, road transport operators and drivers.
It is intended to produce its findings and recommendations by March. First Union is optimistic about the future. But looking back on the last decade, we are also very aware that there is a lot of mess to tidy up before our roads and those who work on them are as safe as they should be.
I hope Twyford listens to those who are behind the wheel, bus or truck, to ensure the review takes into account those who know the roads, and who know what has gone wrong in the past.