AUCKLAND BUS STRIKE

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 September 1945, Page 5

AUCKLAND BUS STRIKE

PARTIAL SERVICE RUN AUCKLAND, September 12. A meeting of Auckland omnibus proprietors was held this afternoon to consider the proposal of the bus drivers to run restricted services in the mornings and evenings. In a statement later, Mr N. B. Spencer, representing the employers, said they had agreed to concur in the arrangements. “We feel we have a duty to the public,” he said, “and we will run the services to ensure as little inconvenience to the people as possible. We fear there will be a great deal of overloading, but in the circumstances the public will have to put up with it.’’ Three bus services in the city and suburbs operated to-day in spitd'.Of the strike. In one case executives manned the vehicles to operate ;;'an almost complete service, while in another the service, consisting of one bus normally driven by its owner, was not affected. The time-table of the Hospital Bus Company, Ltd., .for is service between Epsom and Civic Square was maintained with the exception of five trips each way in the afternoon, by the managing director driving one bus. His assistant manned another bus to maintain the service betwen the Auckland Hospital and Karangahape Road. To operate these services the two men had to work a 15-hour day, but as the managing director remarked, “We had to do it in the old days.” The bus drivers have been promised by the Acting-Minister of Labour (Mr O’Brien) that the special tribunal will sit on Saturday to consider their complaints if they return to work on Friday morning. MEN TO RESUME AUCKLAND, September 13. The Auckland bus drivers this afternoon decided to resume work as usual to-morrow morning, the,, meeting accepting the Minister’s (Mr. O’Brien) assurance that the tribunal to consider points in dispute would sit on Saturday morning.