BY JOHN NEBAUER
& RENFREY CLARKE
ADELAIDE — Strike action planned for August 4 by 600 bus drivers employed by the Serco bus company has been deferred while the workers wait for representatives of the state Industrial Relations Commission to visit depots in order to investigate the drivers' claims.
The drivers took strike action on July 28 as part of a campaign for better wages and conditions organised by the Transport Workers Union. The TWU is pushing for a 4% wage increase this year, followed by a 4% pay rise in 2004. The union is also calling for a 7-hour, 36-minute normal work day, with time-and-a-half payable after that.
TWU state secretary Alex Gallacher said that cancelled strike action is not a backdown. "We'll be putting a couple of options to members and one will be coinciding entirely with the [Adelaide] show week commencement".
Gallacher was critical of Serco for not using the commission to try to settle the dispute. A driver on a picket line outside the Serco depot at Morphetville told Green Left Weekly: "How long would it take you to sweep a bus, then mop it, then fuel it up, then put it through the wash, then park it on its position, then walk all the way back inside, then count your money, then do your paperwork. Here you get ten minutes to do the lot."
The problems are made worse because Serco doesn't maintain the equipment needed to get the job done in the time allotted.
Another driver added: "It's 10 times worse since [metropolitan bus services] were privatised. They used to have people to fuel the buses — now the drivers are supposed to do it."
One result of the privatisation has been a fall in bus numbers. Drivers said that there were 230 buses at the depot three years ago when services were privatised, but now there are 130. However, the buses are supposed to provide the same level of service. The result is a penny-pinching approach to maintenance, leading to more breakdowns.
One driver told GLW that buses were serviced regularly in order to minimise breakdowns on the road. "Now, they wait for it to break down on the road, then tow it back and fix it. I've actually been towed in by a tow-truck, and there's been two tow-trucks with buses ahead of me, waiting to get in."
Drivers are also fighting for better rosters. They often have to work broken shifts separated by unpaid meal breaks. A typical day might see drivers working from 7.15 am until 7 pm, with an unpaid 2-hour lunch break.
The entire day's work is paid at the base rate, currently $14.36 per hour. Drivers are often forced to eat their lunch on the buses. Roster issues are made worse because staffing levels have been reduced.
One driver said: "There used to be a lot of standby drivers. Now, if somebody falls over on the job, there's panic. And every day someone falls over."
Rosters also often have irregular starting times, particularly on Wednesday through to Friday, which cuts into sleep and makes normal routines hard to maintain.
From Green Left Weekly, August 6, 2003.
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