Three cheers for the bus drivers
Three cheers for the courage and fighting spirit of Auckland bus drivers in their battle with Infratil.
Yesterday they rejected another inadequate pay offer from their wealthy owners and are preparing to fight on for a better deal.
The Auckland drivers employed by NZ Bus (wholly owned by Infratil) voted down a company offer of an 11.5 percent increase spread over three years.
The union negotiators recommended acceptance of the offer but after a passionate, robust debate at a stopwork meeting yesterday the drivers stood firm. In a secret ballot the company offer was rejected by a substantial majority.
The rejected pay offer would have given them close to a $2 per hour increase over three years but these drivers have put up with low pay and poor work conditions for so long they’ve had enough.
Union negotiator Karl Anderson summed it up succinctly: "It’s fairly simple, the deal's not good enough." Indeed.
NZ Bus General Manager Zane Fulljames was furious. He said the decision to turn the offer down "beggars belief".
He went on the make the absurd statement "The unions agreed to take and recommend the offer to their members. This did not happen."
This is a man who has little respect for his employees and none for workplace democracy. The union certainly recommended the offer. Fulljames apparently expected union officials to ram the deal down the workers’ throats.
It’s not surprising these workers want a better deal. They are on low pay and can be rostered anywhere between 4.30am and 1am the following morning.
Their shifts will often be split leaving them with four hours unpaid work in the middle of day and they can be away from home for up to 15 hours at a time. They don’t get regular morning or afternoon tea breaks and can be rostered on up to 5-1/2 hours without a break.
In an earlier blog I pointed out how after adjustment for inflation these bus drivers are earning 35 percent less than they were in 1982. New Zealand’s median wage over this period decreased in real terms by 25% and for groups like these drivers the drop has been greater.
The company says it can’t afford a bigger increase. The Employment Relations Authority earlier took the company side when it said that while the bus drivers are arguably underpaid when compared to similar occupations it was satisfied NZ Bus was not currently in a financial position to agree to a large scale realignment of wages.
This is corporate-inspired claptrap. On its website the bus owners state baldly “Infratil’s primary goal is to provide its shareholders with a consistent return of 20 percent per annum over the long term."
It’s 2009 annual report proudly states “over the 15 years since its formation Infratil’s average return has been 18 percent per annum...”
Let’s put that in some perspective. This year Infratil is paying out just over $32 million to its shareholders while the increase offered to drivers would be less that an additional $4 million in payments after three years.
The company can afford to pay the drivers more – it’s just become too used to thinking about them as a distant second to its greedy shareholders, despite the fact it’s the drivers who do the work that creates the profits.
The shareholders have had it too good for too long – it’s time for a bit more to trickle down from Infratil’s top table. Instead the company showed its contempt for its employees by locking out the drivers last month in an attempt to starve them back to work – but the company move backfired and there is widespread public support for the drivers in Auckland.
he rejected pay offer yesterday is the best action I’ve seen this month to start shifting New Zealand’s wages to the level of Australian wages.
So we should applaud the fighting spirit of the drivers and be ready to back them up if Infratil goes on the attack against them as it did last month.
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Another well thought out comment from Mr Minto.
It is about time that all NZ workers were paid more and that something was done in real terms to get NZ from being the poor cousin to Australia.
I was earning 50% more in Australia than NZ. And was treated like a decent person, rather than just an inconvenience, as so often happens to workers in NZ.
as a dyed in the wool capitalist, i happen to agree with SOME of John's sentiment. Any worker has the right to with-hold his/her labour if they feel they are being unfairly treated. This is a basic human right. (eg freedom from forced labour)
Unfortunetly for the drivers, this right comes with consequences. The company doesnt have to pay them. given the current economic climate there will be many people prepared to fill their shoes at the rates offered.
Learning to drive a bus, does not require years of extensive academic training, so the stark reality is that the current crop are easily replacable.
however i wish the drivers well in their negotiations.
It's about time the Unions actually stepped up to the mark then. Create a new bus company and apply for the bus contract. Have the new company under a collective ownership of all the bus drivers. A company owned by the workers.
32 million being paid out this year to the shareholders, could be paid out to the bus drivers in future years. No longer will they get screwed. The only problem I can see is the 32 million is not generated by this Bus arm of Infratil, but a combination of all of Infratil's other businesses. But Minto would've covered that off if it were the case.
Precisely. Infratil is a disgraceful company and Zane Fulljames 'beggars belief' in his inability to comprehend why the drivers are unhappy.
Good call Minto. Don't always agree with you but in this case, you're bang on. 20% return every year, these guys are living off public subsidies!
I had sympathy for the drivers before but rejecting a pay rise of that size when we're still in the tail end of a recesion is ridiculous! They've probably shot themselves in the foot and lost most of their public support now. People like you John are doing them and the public no favours by egging them on simply because you want a fight.
Meanwhile the bus drivers will still be paid the same hourly rate, and still given the same rosters. So what have they gained?
They can strike as much as they like. It hasn't affected me, except for the positive of easier trips into town.
If they strike too much, they may discover there will be no job at all to go back to. Note what happened to dairy factories, freezing works and the like. The most militant sites were the first to be shut down.
If the workers are that agrieved about it, why don't they band together and start their own bus company? I am sure the union will support them in this opportunity to empower the workers. Especially if there is to be a 20% return on investment, plus their wages!! They'd be creaming it.
I'll support the bus drivers when they: a) stop driving so close to cyclists and motorcyclists; b) figure out a way to not drive in convoy leaving massive delays in between; and c) stop using all three lanes on Symonds Street causing massive traffic blockages.
Nice work Minto... Like your column. Socio-political apathy is a huge problem in this country. Keep up the conversation.
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Since when have workplaces been democratic? And why would you want that?
The thought that bus drivers should democratically decide on how a company is run is absurd. Management have certain skills that they bring to the company. Without those skills you can't effectively make the decisions that need to be made to run a company. How many of the bus drivers have those skills.