Some Wellington bus drivers have still not been paid the higher wages promised to them six months ago.
Greater Wellington Regional Council Transport Committee chairman Thomas Nash says people feel hard-working drivers are being taken for granted to maximise shareholder profits.
But NZ Bus says the suggestion the company is motivated by anything other than a fair outcome for its drivers is absurd and unhelpful.
Earlier this year, the regional council agreed to lift bus driver wages up to $30 per hour in urban areas and $28 per hour in regional areas.
This took effect from April 1, with any delay being backpaid.
Metlink had already previously topped up driver wages to a new base rate of $27 an hour to retain and attract drivers.
The Government then announced late last year it would put $61 million towards lifting bus driver wages even further to address nationwide worker shortages that have seen massive service disruptions across the country. The regional council then agreed to match Wellington’s local share of this money.
But six months on, drivers working for NZ Bus have still not received the new wage, despite other bus operators servicing the region having sorted it.
Nash publicly vented his frustration on Facebook, saying the situation is unacceptable.
“The public wants bus drivers paid more and their elected bodies, council and government, have been ready for months. One private company NZ Bus (now trading as Kinetic) is somehow not. We can’t wait any longer for a date when the new wages and back pay will be paid to drivers.”
Transport Committee chairman Thomas Nash says people feel hard-working drivers are being taken for granted to maximise shareholder profits. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Bus drivers not being paid properly illustrated the risks of a profit-driven approach to the delivery of basic public services, Nash said.
“People are rightly feeling like public money and hard-working drivers are being taken for granted in order to maximise shareholder profits.
“Our hard-working drivers have put up with enough over the past few years. They need our support.”
Kinetic New Zealand managing director Calum Haslop said the council and the bus company were working collaboratively to finalise a funding agreement to ensure drivers received the uplift to wages as soon as possible.
“To date, [the] council has been unable to offer a solution that provides long-term consistency and certainty for our drivers. We have provided everything we can to [the] council and hope to reach an agreement quickly.”
Haslop acknowledged the delays were frustrating.
“Our priority and motivation is to ensure drivers are all paid the uplift they are entitled to for all hours they work, now and into the future.
“This is pass-through funding, and to suggest we are motivated by anything other than a fair outcome for our drivers is absurd and unhelpful.”
The improved wages were part of a wider plan to help attract and retain bus drivers as the city grappled with a driver shortage. The Government also changed immigration settings to give bus drivers access to a time-limited, two-year residence pathway.
Reduced and suspended services in Wellington have resulted in people being packed into buses like sardines or left stranded on the side of the road, and some have had to resort to taking Ubers or working from home.
Council chairman Daran Ponter said the collective agreement at NZ Bus appeared to be more complicated compared to other bus operators which basically paid their drivers a flat wage.
“We seem to have a complication with NZ Bus. We are trying to understand why they feel that it is as complicated as it is. We are working collaboratively and we have another meeting today or Friday to further those conversations.”
“I’m not happy at all that the NZ Bus drivers are not being afforded the same opportunities to receive the pay that is owed to them.”
Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.
