Bus strike ends, dispute continues

The bus strike that crippled Sydney and Newcastle is over but union and NSW
government negotiators haven't resolved a dispute over working conditions.
An estimated 600,000 commuters were affected when bus drivers began a 24-hour strike
at 4am (AEDT) on Friday.
Trains were packed to capacity and it was standing room only on morning ferries from
Manly to Sydney's CBD, while taxi companies reported a 50 per cent increase in
bookings.
Many bus commuters were unaware of the industrial action and were left stranded at
bus stops in the two cities on Friday morning.
The Rail Tram and Bus Union (RBTU) and State Transit Authority (STA) emerged from a
meeting on Friday afternoon with an interim agreement, but not in time to resume
services before the afternoon peak.
"We do apologise for that - it's not something that we do lightly," union spokesman
Raul Baonza told reporters following the negotiations.
"Most people understand that sometimes you just got to make a stand."
NSW Premier Kristina Keneally rebuffed claims she failed to take swift action to
avoid the strike because she was too busy to step out of a Labor caucus meeting on
Thursday to negotiate.
"The government was working throughout yesterday, and as late as 9pm last night to
try to avert this strike," Ms Keneally told Macquarie Radio on Friday.
Both sides claimed the other would not negotiate on Thursday night, which drew
condemnation from NSW Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell.
"The union movement in this state has well-trained the last three premiers of the
state and on the basis of the last 24 hours, Kristina Keneally is certainly easy to
tame by the union movement too," Mr O'Farrell told reporters.
"The fact that nothing was done about it shows how hopeless Kristina Keneally is in
her first outing in refusing to stand up to the union movement."
The NSW Taxis Council said telephone bookings jumped 50 per cent on Friday morning
but cabs were never designed to replace public transport.
"Every available car has been on the road and all call centres are at full
capacity," council deputy chief executive Peter Ramshaw said in a statement.
Well into the morning peak period, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Transport's
Transport Co-ordination Group said "there were no real problems".
The government on Thursday offered a three per cent annual pay increase over the
next two years, back-dated to June 12.
But tethered to the offer was a reduction in annual sick leave and a low-cost
alternative for casual drivers to take some shifts instead of permanent staff
working overtime.
Both parties appeared on Friday before the NSW Industrial Relations Commission
(IRC), which recommended the union accept the wage offer and end the strike action.
Presiding Justice Roger Boland, the IRC president, also recommended both parties
continue to negotiate the outstanding issues of the enterprise bargaining agreement,
which expired in July.
Mr Baonza said he would take the wage offer to the union executive on Monday and put
it to the members during the first week of January.
The union and the STA are due back in the IRC on January 13 to report their progress
and must complete negotiations by February 26 or possibly face binding arbitration.
"I'm pleased that today's decision will mean the union now must sit down and
negotiate, rather than holding unnecessary strike action," Ms Keneally said in a
statement following the interim agreement.