Talks affect bus drivers in six cities

Press, 18 April 1986, Page 5

Talks affect bus drivers in six cities

Conciliation talks began in Christchurch yesterday over the Tramways Workers’ Union award, covering bus drivers in six cities.

The talks are an attempt to renegotiate the drivers’ award after a union claim for a $32 a week “industry allowance” led to strikes in five of the six cities in November and December last year. Parties to the talks were not willing to comment last evening on progress after deciding not to argue the issues in public. It was confirmed that the union had dropped the industry allowance claim and replaced it with a raft of claims on allowances and conditions of more

than $32 a week. Basic wage rates are State-linked and are not a direct issue. The conciliator, Mr Brian Gray, said there had been progress in a full day of the talks, which would continue today. If a settlement was not reached today, there were reserved days available the week after next, he said. The chairman of the Christchurch Transport Board, Mr Patrick Neary, said that the cuts in urban transport grants announced this week would put extra pressure on the talks. “A lot will depend on these award talks. If they agree to complex pay rises, it is going to cost an

awful lot of money,” he said. The Transport Board expects to get about $4.1 million in Urban Transport Council grants this year, down from $5.25 million last year, and has estimated fare rises of 25 per cent to compensate. “It is a very difficult period,” Mr Neary said. The series of bus stoppages before Christmas affected New Plymouth, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill. Bus drivers in Auckland did not join the strike because they had recently had a damaging dispute with their employer, the Auckland Regional Authority.