Wellington bus drivers to be back-paid seven months of higher wages

Metlink buses on Lambton Quay in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Wellington bus drivers working for Kinetic will finally be paid the higher wage they were promised almost seven months ago.

Wages will be lifted to an effective average rate of $30 an hour. It will be back-paid to April 1, when it was meant to be implemented.

Greater Wellington Regional Council and the bus operator, formerly known as NZ Bus, made the announcement today.

The two parties have previously been in a war of words over the long-awaited pay.

The council’s Transport Committee chairman Thomas Nash had said people felt hard-working drivers were being taken for granted to maximise shareholder profits.

But Kinetic hit back saying the suggestion the company was motivated by anything other than a fair outcome for its drivers was absurd and unhelpful.

It was never exactly clear what the problem was.

Pleased to announce we have everything in place to get bus drivers the pay rise and the back pay they’ve been waiting for since April. I expect drivers to be paid in the next few weeks and will be following up on this. We will never stop working to show how much we value drivers.

— Thomas Nash (@nashthomas) October 20, 2023

Metlink group manager Samantha Gain said drivers are the backbone of public transport and the pay increase recognises the essential service they provide to communities across the region.

”The announcement is fantastic news and a reflection of the productive meetings we have had with Kinetic to work through the complexity of historic pay calculations, contractual obligations and the ratepayer and central government contributions so we can speed up payments to drivers.”

Nash said he was pleased to now have everything in place so drivers can get the back pay they’ve been waiting for.

Head of Kinetic in New Zealand Calum Haslop said the agreement will be finalised in the coming weeks allowing the wages to be back-paid.

”Today we were delighted to inform drivers that we now have confirmation of the exact funding we will receive to support further wage increases, to achieve an increase of the average hourly rate, and a flat rate of at least $30 per hour.”

Metlink had already previously topped up driver wages to a new base rate of $27 an hour to retain and attract drivers.

The Government then announced late last year it would put $61 million towards lifting bus driver wages even further to address nationwide worker shortages that have seen massive service disruptions across the country. The regional council then agreed to match Wellington’s local share of this money.

The improved wages were part of a wider plan to help attract and retain bus drivers as the city grappled with a driver shortage.

The Government also changed immigration settings to give bus drivers access to a time-limited, two-year residence pathway.

Reduced and suspended services in Wellington have resulted in people being packed into buses like sardines or left stranded on the side of the road, and some have had to resort to taking Ubers or working from home.

Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.