WA bus drivers fight privatisation

By Anthony Benbow and Justin Randell PERTH — A mass meeting of bus drivers on March 7 demanded the state Liberal government suspend its "competitive tendering" process or face further industrial action. The drivers, members of the Public Transport Union employed by Metrobus, had been asked to accept a $100 a week pay cut in exchange for a one-off before-tax payment of $15,000. The government argues that this is needed to make Metrobus "competitive". "Competitive tendering" is part of the Court government's drive to sell off public transport in bits and pieces, a process which started over a year ago. The public transport utility Transperth was restructured, with the river ferries sold to Perth Water Transport and a separate bus division (Metrobus) created. Bus routes were divided up into smaller chunks and outside companies invited to "bid" for them along with Metrobus. A selection panel will then award the route to the most "competitive" tenderer. The first major chunk to be sold off is all the bus routes in the hills area between Midland and Mundaring. The successful bidder was Swan Transit, a company with links to big eastern states-based coach operators. Swan leases part of the existing Metrobus fleet, avoiding large up-front expenses such as new buses. Its drivers' pay and conditions are significantly worse than Metrobus employees'. Hence transport minister Eric Charlton's demand for the pay cut: "Otherwise Metrobus will not be able to bid successfully alongside the private sector". Charlton also described bus drivers as "spending large parts of the day not doing much". The meeting condemned the minister's approach and comments. Drivers said 18 months of industrial reforms in Metrobus have resulted in big productivity gains. The tender process is clearly biased toward the private sector, and there are rumours that the government's ultimate aim is at least three separate bus companies. The "cost savings" and "efficiencies" will come from drivers' wages and commuters' pockets. Workers voted to remain out for the rest of the day. PTU bus division secretary Trevor Greenham said that future industrial action was more likely to take the form of refusing to collect fares, rather than ongoing stoppages.