Union votes in favour of bus deal

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The long-running dispute between New Zealand Bus and its Auckland drivers and cleaners was resolved today with the employee accepting the latest pay offer.

Union members voted about 80 percent in favour of the deal, which includes an 11.5 percent pay increase over the next three years.

The same members, who come from four unions making up the Auckland Combined Unions, had voted against a similar new collective employment agreement three weeks ago.

Gary Froggatt, president of the Tramways Union, which represents more than 600 of the 900 employees, said a key difference was that the company had removed proposed changes to two clauses.

The clauses related to staff incapacity and passenger complaints.

While the offer had been accepted, Mr Froggatt said drivers remained unhappy about the level of the pay rise.

He also said the company had still not addressed concerns about hours of work and long broken shifts, although it had agreed to consultation over the issues early next year.

NZ Bus operations general manager Zane Fulljames said the vote in favour of the offer meant stability and certainty for passengers through to the 2011 rugby World World Cup and until 2012.

Both parties needed to come to the table for negotiation to be effective, he said.

'The unions agreed to recommend the proposed collective employment agreement to their members," he said.

"We are pleased to announce that our offer has been accepted."

Mr Fulljames was confident the deal met the needs of customers, employees and the company.

The drivers and cleaners in the agreement work for the Metrolink, Go West, Waka Pacific, North Star, Link and City Circuit bus services.

NZ Bus and the combined unions had been in negotiations since May.

An impasse in the talks led to widespread disruption to services for several days last month.