7NEWS Australia published this video item, entitled “Bus drivers across Sydney’s southwest and inner west to strike | 7NEWS” – below is their description.
Bus drivers across Sydney’s southwest and inner west say they’ll strike, and not drive buses for two hours on Thursday morning and Friday afternoon, and then stop work for 24 hours on Monday.
It’s expected that 170,000 bus passengers will be impacted by the three days of strike action, across Regions 3 and 6 of the bus network in Sydney. Region 3 covers Fairfield, Liverpool, Smithfield, Merrylands and Parramatta. Region 6 covers basically the entire Inner West and parts of Southern Sydney.
Bus strike times:
– Thursday 2 December: 4am to 6am
– Friday 3 December: 5pm to 7pm
– Monday 6 December: 12:00am to 11:59pm
Transport Workers Union – TWU NSW State Secretary Richard Olsen says drivers were left with no other option, after their calls for ‘same-job same-pay’ had so far not come to fruition.
“All that bus drivers are asking for is the simple guarantee that if you drive a public bus in Sydney, you’ll get paid the same as everyone else doing the same job. The operator Transit Systems, and the State Government, have chosen to ignore these drivers so they’ve been left with no alternative but to take strike action to have their voices heard. These bus drivers have turned up day-in, day-out throughout the pandemic to serve the community – the last thing they want to do is go on strike, but the company’s stubborn refusal to negotiate has left them with no other option. This is ultimately a problem of the State Government’s making – their privatisation of Sydney’s buses has led to this mess where drivers are on all kinds of different pay and conditions, despite doing the exact same job. We are calling on Transit Systems and the State Government to stop playing games, and to come to the table to reach a fair agreement with these drivers, including same-job same-pay.”
A transport industry expert has told 7NEWS that the Thursday morning strike will likely have knock-on effects during the morning peak, and the Friday afternoon strike will create issues for passengers during the afternoon peak travel period. The 24 hour strike on Monday, is expected to dramatically impact the movement of passengers across Sydney’s southwest and inner west.
7NEWS Australia YouTube Channel
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