Thousands of Auckland bus users to be hit by drivers’ strike tomorrow

About 700 Auckland bus trips are expected to be affected in tomorrow's strike by drivers. Photo / Michael Craig

Up to 700 bus trips are due to be affected by a drivers’ strike in Auckland on Monday.

Auckland Transport’s executive general manager of public transport services, Stacey van der Putten, said it was given short notice by NZ Bus and union representatives.

The strikes will be concentrated in the morning and will affect peak commuting times, between 4am and 8am.

“It is deeply disappointing Auckland’s bus users will have their morning travel disrupted by this industrial action at a time when the reliability of services and our passenger numbers have been improving,” van der Putten said.

“Tomorrow’s industrial action has the potential to disrupt tens of thousands of Aucklanders, and we appreciate how deeply frustrating this is for our customers, who have been incredibly patient over the past year while we worked to overcome the driver shortage.”

Van de Putten urged bus users to use the AT Mobile app or Journey Planner before travelling tomorrow morning to find out whether their usual trip is affected and to see options for alternative services.

The current offer from NZ Bus is rumoured to pay the company’s Auckland drivers more than the going rate for the sector and more than the $30-an-hour average wage that AT was hoping to reach this year for its contracted services, according to van de Putten.

“Auckland Transport strongly believes that bus drivers should receive a fair wage, which is why we have worked proactively to bring the industry together in recent years to support improvements to driver wages and conditions,” she said.

“Our teams have also worked to source significant additional funding from both Auckland Council and the Government, which has meant Auckland’s bus drivers have received a number of meaningful increases to their wages.

“I hope that the unions and NZ Bus are able to quickly resolve this dispute tomorrow so that tens of thousands of Aucklanders aren’t unnecessarily inconvenienced this week over issues which could have been dealt with in mediation.”

Below are the bus routes which are expected to be impacted:

18, 14T, 14W, 20, 22N, 22R, 24B, 24R, 25B, 25L, 27H, 27W, 30, 64, 68, 75, 76, 82, 101, 105, 106, 125X, 128, 129, 162, 252, 253, 295, 321, 650, 670, 755, 781, 801, 802, 806, 807, 814, 842, 843, 871, 923, 774, 775, InnerLink, OuterLink, CityLink and TamakiLink.

Rachel Maher is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. She has worked for the Herald since 2022.