Bus crisis the result of privatisation  

Pay issues, poor conditions, cancelled services plague bus network

Media release: The core reason behind Sydney’s current bus crisis is the privatisation of the bus network with the new private operators focused more on making money than in delivering a quality service, the union representing bus drivers says.

Tram and Bus Division President of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) NSW Peter Grech said since the privatisation of our bus network we’ve seen bus drivers hit by pay issues, poor working conditions and a range of other issues making attraction and retention of drivers increasingly difficult.

“Sydney is in the grip of a bus crisis and much of the blame stems from the previous government’s decision to sell off our bus network to the private sector,” Mr Grech said.

“Since our buses were sold off the service for both commuters and workers has gone backwards at a rapid rate.

“We’re in a situation now where bus drivers in some regions haven’t been paid properly for months. How can you expect to attract and retain bus drivers under those conditions?

“The pay issues, the conditions, the stress of working on a bus network where services are cancelled regularly – all of these things are contributing to the issues we’re seeing.

“While the current government has started to take action to improve the situation, there’s still a long way to go to get our services back up to scratch. Many of the things that have been achieved through the bus taskforce are great, including free Opal cards for drivers, but it’s going to take a while to get the system back on track.

Mr Grech said the deals the previous government did with the private operators have proven to be lemons, with the companies now scrambling to make money in any way they can.

“The contracts the previous government gave these private operators were lemons. They’ve come in expecting to make a buck and realised it’s not that easy, and now they’re trying to squeeze every cent out of the system at the expense of workers and commuters.

“The commuters of Sydney deserve a world-class bus network, but at the moment that’s far from the case.”