NZ bus drivers' wages hurt by public transport contracting changes: report
Thursday, 4 July 2019
Bus drivers' wages and conditions have been hurt by changes to the way public transport services are contracted, a government report shows.
The report, withheld from Stuff for four months, found the loss of market share by the major operator NZ Bus to previously smaller operators had 'markedly changed the landscape'.
The research pre-dates the May decision by Transport Minister Phil Twyford to review the controversial Public Transport Operating Model (PTOM) introduced in 2013.
PTOM was introduced by the previous government with the aim of increasing competition among bus companies competing for long-term contracts with councils.
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Trade unions lobbied Twyford prior to the 2017 general election, claiming councils had focussed too much on lowest cost operators, which could tender lower due to lower pay and conditions offered to their drivers.
The report detailed the change in market share of the major bus companies after PTOM contracts were let in Auckland and Wellington.
The big loser was NZ Bus, a company including the once council-owned operations in both centres. It had the highest union membership among drivers and the best collective agreements.
NZ Bus' share of urban services fell from 61 per cent to 34 per cent in Auckland and from 73 per cent to 29 per cent in Wellington.
'The significant loss of market share by incumbent operator NZ Bus has markedly changed the landscape for driver wages and conditions,' the report said.
The company didn't reveal how many drivers it shed in Auckland. However, it cut 280 in Wellington, where an operator new in the city, Tranzit, employed 360 for the first time on different pay and conditions.
The big winners in Auckland under the tender rounds were new entrant Go Bus, which got 16.5 per cent of the market, and Ritchies/RMTS which went from 16 to 24.5 per cent.
The report found little impact on drivers' conditions in other centres.
The two main trade unions representing drivers – the Tramways Union and First Union – said they were disappointed in the report.
First Union said the report went off track from what it was meant to do, which was to focus on the impacts on working conditions.
'The bulk of it seems to be focussed on whether there were cost savings for the public,' transport organiser Jared Abbott said.
The report highlights the value for money achieved by Greater Wellington Regional Council and Auckland Council through the new PTOM contracting process.
It said the volume of services contracted under PTOM, measured by distance travelled, had risen 25 per cent while the cost of contracts had risen by only four per cent.
A second process involving the government, unions, bus companies and councils is looking at possible standardisation of drivers' pay and conditions after services were disrupted by a new employment law in May providing better rest breaks for bus drivers.