Geelong commuters given less than 24 hours’ notice of bus driver strike

Commuters, including school children, have been given less than 24 hours’ notice of planned bus strikes that will put the brakes on key services across Geelong.

Buses will be cancelled across the Geelong region amid strike action. Picture: Alan Barber

Geelong schools have been blindsided and commuters left scrambling after bus operator CDC gave less than 12 hours’ notice about a state-wide strike that will see drivers hit the brakes on all its school and public services across the region on Wednesday.

The Public Transport Victoria (PTV) website also failed to include Geelong services in its list of affected routes, with commuters given little to no warning of disruptions and cancellations.

Bus drivers are taking industrial action in response to stalled pay-rise negotiations with CDC.

CDC buses will not run in Geelong on Wednesday.

PTV confirmed routes 1, 10, 11, 12, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 43 in Geelong would be hit by the strike action.

The routes cover areas including Geelong, Corio and Lara, while services to more than a dozen schools will also be affected.

Those schools include Western Heights, Clonard and Sacred Heart colleges, North Geelong Secondary College and St John’s Lutheran School.

Bus services will also be affected for students at St Joseph’s College, St Joseph’s Westcourt, Geelong High, Matthew Flinders Girls Secondary College, Geelong College, Belmont High, Saint Ignatius College, Geelong Grammar School’s Corio and Newtown campuses, Lara Secondary College and Bannockburn P-12 College.

Administrators were scrambling to warn parents or make other arrangements.

Geelong High School parents received a message on Tuesday afternoon warning them of the need to make alternative arrangements.

St Joseph’s College assistant principal Peter Ryan said he also only found out about the planned strikes on Tuesday.

“We’ve just communicated with our families to let them know, unfortunately the buses are run by PTV, so there’s not much else we can do,” he said.

He said no alternative arrangements could be made so parents would have to drop off and collect their children from school or organise transport.

Transport Workers’ Union Victoria’s director of organising Sam Lynch said CDC and another operator Dysons, were refusing to make key concessions on rostering and safety.

“The bus companies are blaming the Victorian government, and the Victorian government is blaming the bus companies,” he said.

“We just want our members to have a decent living wage.”

Parents have been left scrambling after cancellations. Picture: Brad Fleet

“Our phones remain on. We are urging CDC and Dyson to urgently come back to the table with a genuine offer and avoid any disruption to Victorian commuters.”

The 24 hour strike will primarily impact school bus and standard services operated across Geelong.

A Department of Transport spokesman said strike would also affect services in Wyndham, Mildura, and Ballarat.

“CDC Victoria will not run any bus services in Geelong, Wyndham and Ballarat, and will operate school services only from its depots in Oakleigh, Tullamarine, Sunshine and Mildura,” he said.

A CDC spokeswoman apologised to passengers for any disruptions caused.

“We never wish for our services to be disrupted in a way that impacts those who rely on us each day,” she said.

“CDC Victoria has been actively negotiating an Enterprise Agreement with the Transport Workers Union (TWU) over recent months.

“We remain committed to continuing these discussions in good faith and working collaboratively with the TWU to reach a fair and reasonable resolution,” she added.

Originally published as Geelong commuters given less than 24 hours’ notice of bus driver strike