School bus and commuter services to be hit by driver strike
Thousands of commuters and school children risk being stranded on Wednesday by a strike by drivers that will affect nearly a quarter of Melbourne’s bus network.
The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) said about 1300 drivers at bus operators Dysons and CDC Victoria will walk off the job for 24 hours from 3am on Wednesday after negotiations over pay and conditions broke down.
CDC will cancel all public bus services across Victoria on Wednesday.
Public Transport Victoria urged commuters to plan for cancellations and disruptions or consider alternative transport options. About 100 bus routes will be affected by the strike, the agency said, but all services should return to normal on Thursday.
CDC Victoria has cancelled all metropolitan and regional bus services, which will affect dozens of routes in Melbourne’s inner-east, north-west and west, as well as in Ballarat, Geelong and Mildura.
CDC will also cancel school bus services in Geelong, Ballarat, Wyndham Vale, Werribee and Altona, but will operate its other school services across the state.
Dysons has cancelled routes 301, 389 and 546 and will operate other services in Melbourne’s north and north-eastern suburbs to a Saturday timetable, boosted by some additional morning services. The company’s school buses and services in Sale, Bairnsdale, Shepparton and Wodonga will run as normal.
Bus routes affected by the strike
CDC Victoria
Ballarat, Geelong and Mildura services: cancelled
Melbourne services (Routes 150 to 192, routes 400 to 543, routes 600 to 630 and 900): cancelled
School services in Geelong, Ballarat, Wyndham Vale, Werribee and Altona areas: cancelled
School services in Oakleigh, Elsternwick, Brighton, Sydenham, Sunshine, Essendon and Glenroy areas; Mildura: operating as normal
Dysons (Melbourne’s north, north-eastern suburbs)
Routes 301, 389, 546: cancelled
Routes 506, 562, 565, 572, 573: TBC
Routes 301 to 390 and 503 to 609: Saturday timetable
Regional services: normal operations
School services: Normal operations
Sam Lynch, the TWU director of organising for Victoria and Tasmania, said bus drivers were struggling with wages that hadn’t kept up with the cost of living.
“Strikes are always a last resort. But unfortunately, bus drivers have been left with no choice. Our members have been patient, but that patience has run out,” he said.
Negotiations have stretched on since January. But Lynch held out the possibility of calling the strike off if CDC and Dysons came back to the table with a “genuine offer”.
The union is pushing for a 15 per cent pay rise for staff at Dysons over a three-year enterprise bargaining agreement and a 21 per cent pay rise for workers at CDC.
Dysons said the strike action was “disappointing” after the company offered a pay deal in March that included improvements to wages and benefits, including a 9 per cent pay rise in the first year. Workers voted to reject that offer this month.
“We’ve been working constructively to finalise a new EBA as soon as possible,” Dysons said in a statement.
“Industrial action, if carried out, will cause unnecessary inconvenience to public transport bus passengers.”
A CDC spokesperson apologised to passengers for the inconvenience, and said the company would continue talks with the union to reach a “fair and reasonable resolution”.
PTV has published a list of affected bus routes.
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