Bus drivers to walk off job again as CDC Victoria continues mediation with union

COMMUTERS in Melbourne’s suburbs are in for more peak-hour pain when bus strikes against operator CDC continue on Friday afternoon. Here’s how it’ll affect your trip home.

COMMUTERS in Melbourne’s suburbs are in for more peak-hour pain when bus strikes against operator CDC continue on Friday afternoon.

Bus drivers across Victoria will again walk off the job today from 2pm to 6pm just days after thousands of passengers were left in the cold for 24 hours.

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The industrial action will lead to cancellations on 49 metropolitan routes. Picture: AAP

The Transport Workers Union backed industrial action will lead to cancellations on 49 metropolitan routes, all bus services in Ballarat and almost half of those running in Geelong.

CDC Victoria operates about 17 per cent of the state’s bus services and almost 600 drivers are involved in the strike to demand a 4 per cent pay boost instead of the 2.5 per cent increase offered.

Public Transport Victoria chief executive Jeroen Weimar said he was disappointed both parties were yet to solve the dispute.

“I apologise to our passengers for the inconvenience, and want to make sure they understand that this means most of the buses CDC Victoria operate will have to be cancelled on Friday afternoon because of the action,” he said.

“I urge both parties to achieve an agreeable outcome on Friday to ensure those Victorians who rely on buses are not let down again.”

CDC bus strike in Geelong, Lee Vizsai bus driver with fellow workers on strike. Picture: Glenn Ferguson

CDC applied to the Fair Work Commission for mediation on Friday morning and industrial action is set to continue next week if negotiations are not successful.

Passengers have been advised to check the PTV website ahead of their journeys to check if their service will run.

“We continue to appeal to the TWU to progress discussions instead of impacting

commuters. We believe that our offer, which includes a range of industry leading

benefits, is fair and this demonstrates our support for our drivers,” CDC Victoria CEO Nicholas Yap said.

“We apologise to all our passengers for yet another day of significant inconvenience

and have certainly improved our internal processes to communicate the impacts to

our customers from our last experience.

TWU Victoria and Tasmania branch secretary John Berger said the current CDC offer was lower than all previous 12 annual wage increases.

“We apologise to commuters for any inconvenience the Victorian bus driver industrial actions may personally cause,” he said.

“However, many bus drivers, like many bus passengers, pay mortgages or rent, tax and rates, school fees and have continually increasing grocery and utility bills.

“I ask the question of bus passengers — would you happily and quietly accept a deal from your employer that is less than previous years?

“If the answer is ‘no’ and that you would fight for what is fair, then you would understand why hardworking Victorian bus drivers have made this stand against a rich, powerful, multinational who in 2017 had an annual global revenue of $400 billion and an Australian revenue of $420 million.”

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