A further wage increase has been announced for public transport bus drivers in Timaru.
Drivers will receive a new rate of $27 per hour from April 1 2023, with pay to be backdated.
The increase follows the signing of an agreement between Environment Canterbury, Ritchies, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, Amalgamated Workers Union NZ (AWUNZ) and FIRST Union. It is the second wage increase in six months for Timaru drivers following an increase to $25 in October 2022.
Public Transport general manager Stewart Gibbon says “We are committed to investing in the public transport driver workforce across all of Canterbury,” says. “The increase leverages central government funding, with $61 million allocated in the budget nationally, including support for regional services.”
“After working closely with AWUNZ, FIRST Union, and operators, we’re pleased that Metro drivers in Timaru will receive the benefits of this latest funding support.”
He says “This funding will help support drivers on Timaru’s MyWay service which has shown consistent growth, with passenger trips increasing by 24% since the service launched in 2020. Early this year we added two new vehicles to our fleet, and last week we celebrated 826 riders in one day, our highest number on record.”
