It might be time to plan a train commute if you live in Sydney, because bus drivers are holding several strikes in the city starting from today.
Bus drivers in Sydney announced their plans to protest last week in favour of more equal working conditions last week. They stopped working between 4-6am on Thursday and 5-7pm on Friday, but the biggest disruption has started today, December 6th.
Hundreds of bus drivers in the city’s Inner West walked off the job this morning as they began a 24-hour industrial action, as reported by 9News. Their strike is affecting services across the whole of Sydney, with numerous services cancelled and long delays expected on others. The bus drivers have set up a picket line at the Burwood bus depot in the Inner West in order to emphasise their claims for pay equality.
“The bus drivers walking off the job today have spent the last year exposing themselves to COVID-19 to serve the public, as have rail workers and teachers,” Mark Morey, Secretary of Unions NSW, explained. “Now as inflation runs rampant, they are being rewarded with a pay cut and increased workloads.”
The strike has been organised by The Transport Workers Union for New South Wales and is estimated to involve as many as 1,200 bus drivers. They’re frustrated at the growing privatisation of the state’s bus industry, which they believe has had the unfortunate consequence of leading to unequal pay conditions for drivers. In other words, some bus drivers are getting paid less for driving the exact same routes as other drivers.
So remember to plan your commute accordingly if you think you’ll be affected by the strike action.
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Check out the 7News report on the bus and train strike:
