30 Mar 2016

Union takes bus company to court over alleged ERA breaches

2:44 pm on 30 March 2016

A long-running dispute between Auckland bus drivers and their employer is heading to court, with $2 million being sought in penalties.

First Union, which represents drivers at Howick & Eastern Buses, accuses the company of breaches of the Employment Relations Act.

It says the company has offered cash to get drivers to sign away their right to extra pay for working on non-rostered days and Sundays.

The union's organiser, Rudd Hughes, said they had tried to reason with Howick and Eastern Buses but it had not worked.

He said they were after costs, plus a $20,000 penalty for each driver the company tried to directly bargain with.

Howick and Eastern Buses denies trying to entice any of its drivers with cash to shift from their collective agreement to an individual agreement.