The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) has announced various bus driver strikes in Tasmania this week, with Metro Tasmania bus drivers in both southern and northern Tasmania taking action over wages and conditions.
On Wednesday, Metro Tasmania’s Burnie-based drivers will stop work for two hours from 9.45am to 11.45am, while Launceston-based drivers will do the same between 5pm and 7pm.
On Friday, two work stoppages across southern Tasmania will escalate an ongoing dispute between drivers and Metro management, as well as the state government.
On Friday, drivers will stop working between 5am and 7am, and again from 5pm until 7pm.
RTBU Tasmania Secretary Byron Cubit says bus drivers are getting increasingly frustrated with the Tasmanian government’s “failure” to finalise a new Enterprise Agreement.
“Tasmanian transport minister Eric Abetz and treasurer Guy Barnett are completely missing in action,” he says.
“The state government is so preoccupied with staving off no confidence motions, and covering over the Spirit of Tasmania fiasco, that it has simply given up governing.
“Metro bus drivers deserve better, and the people of Tasmania deserve better.”
Cubit says that while several issues in the proposed Enterprise Agreement had been resolved, a number of key issues remained outstanding, and state government intervention was now needed to get an acceptable deal across the line.
“This dispute has been dragging on for months, and now we are fast running into the busy Christmas period – just as industrial action is escalating,” he says.
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“Metro Tasmania lost $3.4 million in the most recent financial year. There is a clear need for extra funding to enable Metro to provide competitive wages and conditions for its drivers.
“Without more bus drivers, there is simply no chance that Metro will be able to restore the services which we ‘indefinitely suspended’ last year – let alone cater for future events at the new Macquarie Point stadium.”
In northern Tasmania, Cubit says bus drivers deserve fair pay and conditions, saying the current offer on the table from Metro Tasmania meaning drivers would work longer for a two per cent pay rise.
He says Abetz has publicly urged both tables to get back to the negotiating table, but Metro Tasmania management was instead putting a draft Enterprise Agreement out for a vote of workers.
“The time has well and truly come for the Minister Abetz to step in, put some money on the table and get this deal done,” he says.
“Metro Tasmania remains chronically under-funded, and that is why it cannot attract or retain the bus driver workforce it needs.
“Tasmanians are sick of political buck-passing, and they want to see the government step up and take responsibility for services they are supposed to be delivering.
“The state government must ensure that Metro Tasmania is properly resourced, and Metro staff have competitive wages and conditions.”
Cubit says the timing of the afternoon stoppage on Launceston had been chosen to ensure that it would have no impact to school services, however some students catching general access services may be affected. Families with children who interchange in Launceston and catch later buses are advised to plan ahead and make alternative arrangements if they can.
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