Metro Tasmania bus drivers in Southern Tasmania will take two work stoppages this Friday, in another escalation of their dispute with Metro management and the State Government over wages and conditions.
Drivers will stop work for two hours on Friday morning (29 November 2024) from 5am to 7am, and again in the evening between 5pm and 7pm.
Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) Tasmania Secretary Byron Cubit said drivers were getting increasingly frustrated with the State Government’s failure to finalise a new Enterprise Agreement.
“Transport Minister Eric Abetz and Treasurer Guy Barnett are completely Missing In Action.
“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.”
Mr Cubit said 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.
“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.”
