Greater Wellington regional councillors voted unanimously on the increase. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Wellington's bus drivers will be getting more pay in their pockets following a decision by the regional council on Thursday morning.
Greater Wellington regional councillors voted unanimously on the increase, which will see an extra $1-3 per hour for drivers in the wider Wellington region. Urban driver wages would lift to an average of $30 an hour, while Kapiti and Wairarapa driver rates would increase to $28.
The council's public transport arm, Metlink, proposed the change, saying there was a national shortage of drivers and it had been difficult to attract and retain staff. The service had been plagued by cancellations, and was still 120 drivers short of the 675 needed. It did not expect a reduction in cancellations until September, despite the recruitment efforts underway.
Ten bus drivers have left the profession already this year, but about 40 were in training. Operators estimated there would be about 20 new drivers on the road in April and 65 in May, the council said. Another 160 drivers had committed to joining, but not all would pass immigration processing, training and licensing.
Councillor Ros Connelly said pay was not the only problem, and the local body could not rely on national fair pay agreements to improve working conditions.
"Having to use a portaloo on a building site is not an acceptable standard, and the fact that our bus drivers are still having to do that is not okay," she said.
"We need to be moving on that and a couple of the other key issues that bus drivers have told us are problems for them in their everyday working lives as much as we have in the wages space."
But Metlink operation manager Melissa Anderson said fair pay agreements would make a difference by setting a minimum national standard.
"Shift makeup, toilet facilities, rest and meal facilities and the like we deal with in a BAU (business as usual) manner," she said.
"But also fair pay agreements will address an industry standard or minimum for all of those top-of-the-mind issues."
The pay hike would be jointly funded by the regional council and central government, as per the rules of the latter's Climate Emergency Response Fund.
The fund is available over four years to improve driver recruitment and retention, and requires public transport authorities to match Crown funding. Bus operators also needed to agree to increasing pay to match future wage indexation.
The council said $2,227,000 would be released to operators for the coming financial year, with its share included in the draft annual plan.
Transport Committee chair Thomas Nash said Metlink scheduled more than a million bus journeys annually, and passengers were deeply frustrated by cancellations.
"Showing that we value our current drivers and having the right pay and conditions to recruit new drivers are essential parts of our work to restore reliability and public confidence. Public transport is climate action, and we are totally committed to making it work."