Breakaway bus union favours deal

One of four unions involved in the marathon Auckland bus drivers dispute has withdrawn from a combined negotiating team and wants to accept an offer rejected at a mass stopwork meeting this week.

The National Distribution Union, representing 32 NZ Bus drivers, dropped a bombshell on the majority Auckland Tramways Union last night with its breakaway decision.

Despite the small size of its membership in the company's 875-strong unionised Auckland workforce, it is influential and one of its officials, Karl Andersen, was the agreed spokesman for the combined bus workers' negotiating team.

He accused the Tramways Union, representing more than 600 of the drivers and cleaners, of breaking ranks with the agreed position by allegedly urging "rejection rather than ratification" of the offer.

Auckland Tramways president Gary Froggatt strongly denied that, saying he backed the pay part of the offer while being under instruction by his members to point out pitfalls of two "clawbacks" to conditions.

It is understood 353 workers at the meeting voted to reject the deal, and 284 to accept it.