THE DISTRUPTIONS
No Metro services will be operating between 1pm and 2pm. Services one hour either side of the meeting, between noon and 3pm, will also be affected as drivers travel to the meeting. Full service disruption details, including those at Hobart and Burnie, can be found at www.metrotas.com.au.
BUS drivers will strike today in their efforts to secure a 3 per cent annual wage increase.
A meeting between Metro and union leaders yesterday failed to resolve the impasse. Metro suggested a 2.1 per cent wage increase - up from 2 per cent - after rebudgeting in light of proposed productivity gains.
Rail, Tram and Bus Union secretary Sam Simonetis, herself a Metro bus driver, said the offer was not satisfactory.
``We're very frustrated. Gutted is the word most members have used today. It's an insult,'' Ms Simonetis said.
The strike will be the fourth in three weeks.
Metro chief executive Heather Haselgrove said she was disappointed that talks broke without a resolution.
``Unfortunately we have been unable to reach agreement today,'' Ms Haselgrove said.
``Nevertheless, we're hopeful that drivers will decide to end industrial action and accept a revised offer that we will put to them next week,'' she said.
The stopwork meeting is being used as an information session for union members.
Metro will next week table a revised formal offer, believed to include a 2.1 per cent wage increase but subject to board approval. Ms Simonetis said drivers were likely to reject that figure, as 86 per cent of workers rejected the 2 per cent increase.
``During the global financial crisis our wages went up by 3 per cent, now there's no financial crisis, just the Tasmanian government doesn't know how to budget,'' Ms Simonetis said.
In addition to the efficiency gains, Metro has also proposed a change to the classification structure that would result in drivers reaching their top pay level sooner, however, it is clear that the dispute rests on the annual wage increase.
The productivity gains relate to use of suburban bus yards, minimising the time drivers spent in empty buses travelling to their runs.
Sustainable Transport Minister Nick McKim said he firmly believed that the issue should be resolved between Metro management and the union.
He also said that a 2 per cent increase was in line with previous public sector wage increases.