Comments on: Bus drivers turn down 12% pay rise

By: Luc Hansen

Luc Hansen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:55:12 +0000

it seems in the murky workings of a combined union that the drivers voted in favour but were overridden by non-driver comrades. The drivers have now withdrawn from the combined union and accepted the employer offer, if the offer is still open.

Let’s see if the company plays hardball. I trust not: the claim was eminently fair as was the settlement.

By: Elijah Lineberry

Elijah Lineberry — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:28:27 +0000

This is another example of greedy, selfish, ungrateful working class pigs robbing their employer blind; these grubs should be pleased to have employment in these times and stop moaning and annoying customers.

If it were up to me I would cut their pay to teach them a lesson in manners and their role at the bottom of the totem pole; cut their pay to $12-51 per hour until they beg for the current offer.

http://www.nightcitytrader.blogspot.com

By: grumpyoldhori

grumpyoldhori — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:24:18 +0000

Yep i know of one driver on $15 bucks an hour, young fellow sod all experience, took the coach down a decent hill two gears too high, faded the brakes out, bloody lucky no one was killed.

Which is why I believe in intensive training for coach/ bus drivers, so they can sum up what needs to be done to keep the passengers safe.
Oh, what would you do if you lost the brakes on the Auckland side of the Kaimais ?

By: Emma

Emma — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:35:25 +0000

Don’t accept a job if you don’t like the pay. Simple. Harden up.

By: stephen

stephen — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:44:29 +0000

Lose the brakes in the wrong place you want that driver to make the right decision you do not want him driving to his $15 hr.

How much training would that need then? I’m not suggesting it’s half an hour whizzing around the block, but i would *guess* that it’s not so complex that they can’t just hire someone for $15, give them a bit of training and let’em go. The rate of giant bus accidents would suggest that whatever they’ve been doing works…

By: KiwiGreg

KiwiGreg — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:36:32 +0000

“Minimum wage of at least(AT LEAST) 15 bucks an hour.”

Let’s make it $100/hour then everyone can afford to go to Paris.

Do you really thinik raising minimum wages by fiat (as opposed to getting more productive) is any way for a country to prosper?

By: grumpyoldhori

grumpyoldhori — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:30:59 +0000

Stephen, dear boy, I could teach you to wheel a coach about in 30 minutes.
But, you pay bus drivers good money for when things go tits up and they have your kids in the back.
Lose the brakes in the wrong place you want that driver to make the right decision you do not want him driving to his $15 hr.

I amused how many experts there are on this board who would be lost if I asked them to take a low loader rig with a D6H on down the Auckland side of the Kaimais.

By: stephen

stephen — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:23:06 +0000

Ifa guy that can puch away at computer keys can make a hundred per hous or even more, sure a bus driver is worth more than 18 bucks an hour?

How long does it take to learn to drive a bus?

hell that aint even cloase to average wage is it?

Not sure the average wage is important, as averages are distorted by extremes. The median (half earn more, half earn less) is about $25,000 I believe.

By: william

william — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:20:19 +0000

I’m reminded of a converstaion between a lawyer and an accountant friend of mine a few years back. We had just had a few beers and the accountant turns to us and says,”That’s it, I’m off to catch the bus home”. My lawyer mate turns to him and says. “What? You’re catching a bus home? I reckon that anyone over 30 who still catches the bus to work has failed in life.” My accounting friend replied “Yep, I suppose that’s true ….. but only if you’re the bus driver.”

By: malcolm

malcolm — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:50:42 +0000

But what is the point of striking if they will actually end up with less than if they’d accepted the company offer ? Pure maliciousness towards the company ?

Because they believe the extra they get *will* cover the lost wages. An extra $1 per hour is an extra $1920 gross per annum (say 40*48*1). But you get that extra for the next 10, 20, 30 years of your working life.

By: menace

menace — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:50:36 +0000

In the environemnt of capitalism it is the name of the game isnt it?

Get waht you can get, charge what you can charge?

Isnt that how it works?

Ifa guy that can puch away at computer keys can make a hundred per hous or even more, sure a bus driver is worth more than 18 bucks an hour?

Can many of you here get far on 18 bucks an hour?

hell that aint even cloase to average wage is it?

I think anybody who consistantly get of thre arse for somebody 40 hours a week is worth more than most of them are payed these days,

Minimum wage of at least(AT LEAST) 15 bucks an hour.

By: KiwiGreg

KiwiGreg — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:31:55 +0000

“But what is the point of striking if they will actually end up with less than if they’d accepted the company offer ? Pure maliciousness towards the company ?”

A threat you never use can cease to be credible. Sometimes you have to hurt yourself to show you are serious. Not supporting the drivers, just discussing negotiation strategy.

By: Put it away

Put it away — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:11:50 +0000

But what is the point of striking if they will actually end up with less than if they’d accepted the company offer ? Pure maliciousness towards the company ?

By: jcuknz

jcuknz — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:42:21 +0000

You are correct ‘Put it away” but part of the bargaining balance is the amount the company loose due to failure to provide the service.

By: jcuknz

jcuknz — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:40:28 +0000

>>>If the bus drivers were actually pleasant to their customers I would feel some sympathy<<< That has two sides, if the passengers were pleasant too….I'd hate to drive a bus carrying Kiwiblog writers … or be a passenger in it.
In my book the drivers had all the brownie points following the lockout but they have lost some with the rejection. It is indeed puzzling that the vote was despite being a secret vote. Though fortunately I do not have to live and bring up a family in Auckland on 78% of the average wage, and only a bit more than the 'minimum wage'.

By: Put it away

Put it away — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:03:29 +0000

Do these rocket scientists ever sit down and calculate the amount of wages they lose by striking vs the difference between what they want and what the company is offering ? More than a couple of days strike probably eliminates the amount they’re striking for. Maybe there’s a reason they’re working for the employer of last resort….

By: Brian Smaller

Brian Smaller — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:32:48 +0000

Leaving market forces aside, I would imagine there is still a perception amongst the majority of the KiwiBlog readership that if you happen to drive a bus you’re thick, probably non-caucasian and not worthy of anything better.

My father drove buses once in Wanganui. He did it because he had no trade qualifications, no education other than that necessary to get a bus licence and that was the only job he could get. He was also casucasian. He got the type of work at the type of pay his skills and abilities commanded. Nothign racist about that.

By: KiwiGreg

KiwiGreg — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:24:29 +0000

@ libertscout – you nailed it. At the end of the day the ratepayers are going to wear the cost of any settlement (through the subsidy) not Infratil and not the bus passengers.
d

By: Lee C

Lee C — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:14:39 +0000

So what? If they think they can do better elsewhere then is their prerogative too. The employers and unions both have misjudged the mood of their people. Boo hoo. Let them negotiate. Two weeks ago the employers got egg on their faces, now the drivers are having a turn. It’s all legal, and disappointing or not, it is a central plank of my philosophy that people are entitled to go to the market and get what the market eill pay for their services. Give me any of those bus-drivers with their input and the ’strains on their relationships’ they’ve been under against one ‘Rodney Hide’, any day. Now that’s a example of ‘disappointing’ in my book. . . . http://monkeyswithtypewriter.blogspot.com/

By: Manolo

Manolo — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:45:13 +0000

“I wonder if Phool has a licence that allows him to drive a bus?”

C’mon. The bludger is a Luddite, with a strong aversion to technology (except the PC he uses to write his addled thoughts). His daily routine is made of three Bs: Blog (stuff nobody reads), Bake (endlessly), Burn (weed).

On the subject of NZ Bus. Let the market decide: the company should fire the drivers and hire new ones.
I wonder how many of those sacked dare to reapply!