'Tedious' bus scrap back to mediation

The ongoing pay dispute between drivers and NZ Bus is back to mediation next week - but there are no guarantees the problems are over. Photo / Paul Estcourt

The dispute between bus drivers and Auckland's largest bus company is heading back to mediation on Monday.

Union spokesman Karl Andersen said the bargaining is "tedious and emotional" but he hopes the dispute with employer NZ Bus will be settled then.

"We've got to the point where we're pointing the finger at each other," Mr Andersen said.

But he said the talks are being mediated and the discussions are "civil".

"No one's yelling at each other," Mr Andersen said.

NZ Bus is owned by Infratil and operates Metrolink, Go West, Waka Pacific, North Star, Link and City Circuit buses which carry 80,000 passengers a day.

A spokeswoman for the company, who did not want to be named, said the negotiations will take as long as they have to and Monday may not be the end of it.

"Both parties are very positive," the spokeswoman said.

She said the company apologised to customers for the uncertainty but at the moment buses were running as normal.

Mr Andersen said the unions' issue was with long hours and low wages.

He said bus drivers have a 14 hour working day but are only paid for eight hours of work because they work split shifts.

Mr Andersen said that puts stresses on family lives.

"Either they [drivers] lounge around the depot drinking tea and coffee or they go home. But if they go home, they incur more travel costs," he said.

Mr Andersen said strike action is still an option if the dispute cannot be resolved over pay rates.

NZ Bus made an offer to drivers and cleaners two weeks ago which narrowly averted industrial action.

The offer would have seen drivers with nine months experience on $16.75 an hour - which covers 90 per cent of the drivers - receive an 11 per cent increase over three years. Drivers with less experience were to receive a slightly higher pay rise of up to 13 per cent.

NZ Bus has made a bid to take a formal bargaining request to the Employment Relations Authority.

Mr Andersen said the unions have not yet decided on whether or not they will take part.

The NZ Bus spokeswoman said even if the union does not agree to attend the Authority's hearing, a resolution to the dispute could still be reached.