BY SAM WAINWRIGHT
Only one day after an angry March 14 meeting of State Transit Authority (STA) bus drivers voted to strike for 48 hours in pursuit of their wage claim, the executive of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union has deferred the action.
The RTBU officials cited two reasons for their decision; a threat by the STA to lodge an application with the Industrial Relations Commission to end the bargaining period and disruption to "Seniors Week".
At a previous stop-work meeting, bus drivers decided to push for a 27% pay increase to be paid over three years in three instalments of 9%. In support of this claim, they staged a 48-hour stoppage on March 6-7. While the increase they are seeking is larger than that received by most other NSW public servants, their pay has lagged behind other sectors and there is a strongly felt need to catch up.
STA drivers are on a $16.37 per hour base rate, meaning they earn around $32,000 a year before overtime. This compares poorly with similar jobs such as CityRail train drivers who earn around $20 per hour. Not surprisingly, bus drivers are quick to point to the extra stress they have to deal with in the form of Sydney's choking traffic and dealing with customers.
Most STA drivers do a lot of shift work and overtime in order to get a decent income, however recent changes to roster and timetable arrangements have reduced their opportunity to do this.
On March 14, 3500 bus drivers seated in the stand at the Wentworth Park greyhound track (and 150 on a link in Newcastle) heard RTBU NSW Bus and Tram divisional president Pat Ryan recommend that they accept a government pay offer of 10% over two years.
Ryan insisted that 10% was the government's final offer, saying that, "You could go out for 12 months and still not achieve [27%]... during the negotiations we got a sense of what we can achieve." However, every effort by the executive to hose down their members' expectations only made them more angry.
When the mover of the original motion for a 27% claim from the previous meeting, a young woman with her fist in the air, reaffirmed it to loud cheers, even the executive members had to recognise which way the tide was flowing. Ryan did an about turn and backed the original claim. A motion supporting the 27% claim was passed with 3500 in favour and 6 voting against.
Anger at the NSW Labor government was intense. One speaker declared, "If the Labor Party doesn't want to give us any money, let's not give them any". This prompted the next speaker to move a motion that the division withhold its ALP affiliation fees and donate the money to a children's hospital instead.
Sensing the mood of the moment, Ryan voiced no opposition to this and only pointed out that as the division could withhold its fees but not disaffiliate from the ALP, as this could only be decided by the union as a whole. The motion passed unanimously.
Ryan then asked the drivers what they wanted to do in pursuit of their claim. Most of the speakers from the floor emphasised that their dispute was with the government not commuters and that they needed to keep public opinion on side. Initially, a proposal for a seven-day ban on fare collection gathered strength. Ryan replied the STA had advised her they would not pay employees who participated in revenue bans. The proposal was defeated by about two thirds voting against.
The meeting then degenerated into a confusing counter-position of different proposals for stoppages, revenue bans and work to rule measures. In the short time remaining, and with no leadership from the executive, it was impossible to group these into a coherent plan of action. Eventually the chair declared that there were two possibilities: a 48-hour stoppage or a 48-hour revenue ban, and called for a division. About two-thirds of those present voted in favour of strike action.
From Green Left Weekly, March 20, 2002.
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