Industrial Action - 9/10 April 2011

Started by CanberraTransport, April 07, 2011, 05:58:31 PM

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CanberraTransport

ACTION services will be disrupted this weekend. On Saturday, the Sunday timetable will operate, and no bus services will run on Sunday.

QuoteDue to industrial action by the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), there will be disruptions to this weekend's bus services, James Roncon, Director, ACTION, announced today.
"The AMWU has placed a ban on overtime work which means that buses cannot be maintained or re-fuelled this weekend which cripples the bus service," Mr Roncon said. "In order to minimise any disruption to Monday services a decision has had to be made to run a Sunday timetable on Saturday and cancel Sunday services.
"There may also be reductions in the number of wheelchair-accessible buses which run on Saturday due to difficulties in re-fuelling them.
"While ACTION management will themselves assist with re-fuelling buses on Sunday evening to try and meet the Monday morning peak, it is simply not possible to run bus services on Sunday and not impact on Monday's services.
"This kind of industrial action is very disappointing. It will play havoc with commuters as it effectively does not allow bus drivers to drive buses. ACTION has been engaged in good faith bargaining with the AMWU over the proposed Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA). We meet weekly with them and have allowed AMWU members to participate in two paid meetings to discuss the proposed EBA.
"The proposed EBA is not designed to reduce worker's rights, rather it will provide more employment options and also allow ACTION to improve its services and not be held to ransom by the fact it cannot have staff rosters which include weekend work. Simply put, if ACTION cannot get staff in the workshops over the weekend to repair and fuel buses it cannot have buses on the road.
"Another key goal of the bargaining negotiations is to review the span of hours worked in the workshops which will increase the ability to better manage the servicing of buses, particularly on buses required for the morning peak.
"Currently the operating hours are such that buses returning from the afternoon peak cannot be looked at for repairs until 5.30 am the next morning, which is just one hour before the morning peak commences."
Mr Roncon said that ACTION will do its best to minimise disruptions on Monday.
"Due to the action we are taking over the weekend, we are not expecting significant disruptions on Monday however there will be some buses off the road. We will ensure school runs operate and that any dropped services are on bus runs which are quickly followed by another bus. For more information on ACTION services please visit www.action.act.gov.au or call 13 17 10."

Source: Press Release

Buzz Killington

Exact same text with an ironic image available via the ACT Bus Homepage too :)

Bus 400

I wonder if Deanes will be asked to help with Brumbies Shuttles on Saturday night?

Barry Drive

Quote from: Bus 400 on April 07, 2011, 07:55:09 PM
I wonder if Deanes will be asked to help with Brumbies Shuttles on Saturday night?
Yep. The Brumbies charter has been transferred to Deane's. Hope they will put on more buses since they don't have access to artics.

Snorzac

#4
921 is out today, not sure if that has something to do with this though.

EDIT: At a guess there weren't enough gas buses fueled last night, 973 is about to start a 900 at Belconnen.

CNG

I saw 946 and 922 doing the rounds through tuggeranong

743

I saw more and more gas buses out this afternoon, but the majority of trips were being done by Renaults. Patronage (on the buses I caught anyway) seemed a little higher than for a normal Saturday, I guess everyone was combining their entire weekend's travel into the one day.

Bus 400

While out today, I didn't notice many people waiting at the bus stations/bus stops. That was except for a high percentage of high school aged males & 3-4 other people from young females to the elderly.

I did also notice that there were 2 portable variable message signs informing the public about Sunday timetable on Saturday & no services Sunday. One was placed on Barry Drive (Belconnen bound) just past the latest ANU development. The other one was on Northbourne Avenue (Woden bound), just south of the London Circuit traffic lights.