Bus strike will cost $1m, says Stagecoach

Herald file picture

The six-day strike by Auckland bus drivers is likely to cost $1 million, says bus company Stagecoach.

The 1000 drivers walked off the job yesterday to push for their claim for an immediate pay rise to $16 an hour. They will not go back to work until late Tuesday.

The strike has affected tens of thousands of Auckland passengers as extra buses from other transport operators, trains and ferries, failed to cope with the demand.

Stagecoach said today the strike should not be happening and it was now seeking an arbitrator to give a ruling on the wage row which would be binding on both the company and the drivers.

Stagecoach executive chairman Ross Martin said the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had already provided a ruling which the drivers had ignored.

He said he could not say if arbitration would end the strike before the six days was up.

"We have been close to coming to an agreement at certain times. At one stage the union accepted our deal and turned it down the next day -- the same deal that is on the table now."

He said arbitration could happen within hours and the strike could be off today.

"It is a little bit up to the ERA and the unions. It could happen this afternoon and the strike could be off tomorrow.

"We are working on it. I think it should happen. It is a legitimate way forward for us."

He said the company had been trying to meet the union for the last two days.

Criticism that the company received a large subsidy and was making large profits overseas and could afford to meet the wage claim was invalid, he said.

"We employed a top firm of accountants to analyse our accounts and they said our return was sub-optimal."

The strike has caused frustration and longer peak-hour motorway delays getting in and out of the city as passengers use their own cars.

The ERA's earlier recommendation, which was not accepted by the union, included a 7.6 per cent pay rise to $15 an hour and a $600 cash sum.

Combined unions advocate Gary Froggatt said the company's arbitration bid would strengthen the drivers' resolve.

- NZPA