March Madness: Auckland bus strike postponed after mediation offer

A bus strike set to disrupt Auckland commuters has been postponed. Photo / File

A bus strike planned tomorrow in Auckland has been postponed after a mediation offer.

Bus commuters have faced delays this week during the busiest month of Auckland's traffic calendar due to a series of rolling strikes by bus drivers which started today.

NZ Bus said yesterday that the disruption meant some bus commuters would be unable to take their normal bus to work in the morning.

About 250 bus drivers went on strike at the Glenfield and Swanson NZ Bus depots from 4am to 7am to attend a stopwork meeting after contract negotiations broke down last week.

The strike action was set to continue tomorrow but has now been postponed.

In a statement, NZ Bus said it made an offer to go into mediation with First Union and the Tramways Union which had been agreed to, meaning the proposed strike action had ended "for now".

NZ Bus CEO Barry Hinkley said: "It is obvious that we are at an impasse in negotiations, so bringing in a third-party mediator will give us the best chance to make progress.

"We are pleased that the unions have agreed to the mediation and that they have withdrawn their strike action. Now Aucklanders can plan their morning commute with certainty.

"While mediation isn't a silver bullet in terms of reaching an agreement, it's a positive step that we hope will lead to a resolution."