Logan City bus drivers joined hundreds of others across the state last week in a 24-hour strike action calling for better pay, higher standards of safety and better consultation.
And representatives from the Transport Workers Union (TWU) said there’s more to come.
General bus services were changed to a Saturday timetable last Wednesday, and school buses operated as usual despite around 80 drivers missing from action.
The strike action follows almost six months of bargaining negotiations.
TWU’s director of organising, Jared Abbott, said more strikes are likely to come.
“Fare-free strikes, where drivers provide the service but refuse to collect fares from passengers, are likely to come in the next couple of weeks,” Mr Abbott said.
“If we’re still not getting movement after that, there will likely be more strikes.”
He said drivers’ contracts were currently structured in a way that consistently produced low wages and prevented them from keeping up with the cost of living.
“Their pay is tied to what’s called the labour price index,” Mr Abbott said.
“This makes low wages an almost self-fulfilling prophecy, because drivers’ wages are set a year behind.
“So if your wage increase is tied to the previous year’s low wages, then low wages are always going to repeat themselves.
“Drivers are taking strike action to get the government to notice that they need to invest in public transport, invest in drivers’ wages, deal with driver shortages, and change the way these contracts are structured to actually allow people to keep up with the cost of living.”
He said this issue wasn’t confined to Logan.
“Hence why there were also strikes on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast,” Mr Abbott said.
“We’re aware of drivers all across Queensland that are prepared to fight to get a pay correction.”
Logan’s key bus operator, Clarks Logan City Bus Service, released a statement ahead of the protest.
“Clarks is disappointed by this action,” the statement said.
“We are a family company that highly values our employees and has never been the target of industrial action since we commenced in 1976, however this matter is out of our control.
“Our priority is to provide the best level of service that we are able to on this day. We understand that this will inconvenience many of our valued customers and assure you that Clarks is committed to working with our employees, the union, and the Fair Work Commission to reach an agreement that prevents future action.”
