Brisbane bus drivers to walk off job as pay negotiations stall

Brisbane City Council bus drivers will stop work for two hours on Thursday in industrial action which will impact more than 400 trips.

Brisbane City Council bus drivers will walk off the job.

Brisbane City Council bus drivers will walk off the job for up to two hours on Thursday.

The stoppage, from 4-6am, would affect 436 bus trips. School routes would not be affected at this stage.

Drivers already on the road when the action begins must complete their trip.

Transport chair Ryan Murphy said the action would not hurt council or the state government, only commuters and the drivers themselves.

Talks between council and the Rail Bus Tram Union on Friday in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission broke down.

The union wanted 7 per cent pay rises for all council workers, not just bus drivers, per year for two years.

Ryan Murphy on board Brisbane Metro from St Lucia to Eight Mile Plains. Picture: Richard Walker

Council has offered about half that, which it said was above the 2.5 per cent inflation rate.

Mr Murphy said while the stoppage was for only two hours impacts would be felt well into Thursday.

Other drivers not taking part in the industrial action would be employed to minimise disruption, but Mr Murphy said disruption would likely roll into peak hour.

“Regardless of union threats, we will continue to negotiate a fair and reasonable pay rise in good faith for our hardworking council staff,” he said.

“We have to make sure we strike a balance by delivering the services our city needs while keeping costs down for every Brisbane resident.”

Labor Opposition Leader Jared Cassidy said Mr Murphy’s claim that council’s pay offer was “fair and reasonable” was way off mark.

“Mr Murphy received a pay rise higher (than that proposed for drivers) and backdated. Shame on him,” he said.

Drivers can earn from $76,000 up to $150,000, among the highest in the country, according to council.

The union says the base rate is lower and only $35 an hour.

But Mr Cassidy slammed Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner as being “out of touch”.

“The Lord Mayor received a $15,000 or 4 per cent pay rise back in July but doesn’t believe our bus drivers deserve the same,” Mr Cassidy said.

“Adrian Schrinner has spent $1.55 billion on the Metro project but won’t budge on giving the drivers of his fancy bendy buses the pay and conditions they deserve. How out of touch.

“Our hardworking bus drivers are the ones who will keep the wheels moving on Brisbane’s buses, so why doesn’t Adrian Schrinner think they deserve better pay and conditions?

“The LNP Council has blown the budget on pet projects and run cash reserves dry and now they’re trying to keep costs down in the wrong places.”

Council insisted it had been very generous, with a total 30 per cent wage increase for drivers since 2012.

South Brisbane student Nina Halldorsdottir said she would support the bus drivers, despite it creating travel issues.

“I’ll have to walk. We don’t have a car or anything else,” she said.

Bowen Hills man Mark Jeffery, who started taking public transport for the 50c fares, said he would have to stick to driving.

“They probably won’t get that, but they deserve it because of the CPI,” he said.

Mr Jeffery said he takes buses three to four days a week even though it takes twice as long as driving.

RTBU state secretary Tom Brown was contacted for comment.

Originally published as Brisbane bus drivers to walk off job as pay negotiations stall