Bus drivers in Waikato region receive Christmas bonus from Regional Council

Bus drivers in the Waikato region will receive a one-off bonus from Waikato Regional Council this year. Photo / Supplied

Waikato Regional Council (WRC) is playing Santa Claus and has voted to allocate a Christmas bonus totalling $200,000 for the region's bus drivers in recognition of their great job during the lockdowns.

This means a fulltime worker, like existing bus drivers and cleaners, will receive a one-off bonus of about $1000.

Regional Connections Committee chairwoman councillor Angela Strange said the council worked hard to ensure it is doing the right thing by the local bus drivers.

"They're the public face of our services and have continued right through Covid lockdowns and changing requirements over the past 18 months or more. In the Waikato, we are struggling to get enough bus drivers for our services, an issue which is being experienced right across New Zealand."

She says the decisions were a meaningful gesture in recognition of a workforce "which enables us to get people safely from A to B, and it will hopefully go some way to attracting more people to this profession".

Through the bonus, the council also wants to acknowledge the value of the workforce and the gap between wages paid and the living wage between September 1, 2020 and August 31, 2021.

At the council's last full meeting of the year, the councillors also voted in favour of a pay rise for public transport workers to $22.75 per hour, backdated to September 1, 2021.

This will be subsidised by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency who will fund 51 per cent and Waikato Regional Council funding 49 per cent.

In addition, WRC council will continue to work with Go Bus to ensure wages for public transport workers are not less than the living wage from 2022 onwards. Councillors also backed a motion to investigate a policy to pay all contracted services the living wage rate.

There's also good news for SuperGold card holders who will have their free travel extended to include peak service times. This will come into place from March 1.

Strange says: "We have an ageing population and enabling our SuperGold card holders to travel any time on any bus or Te Huia train service will be a gamechanger. It will give older generations unable to drive the greater flexibility they need to get from A to B and as a result I expect we'll see an increase in patronage."