UPDATED: School buses cancelled as bus strike flagged to continue all day

UPDATE 2 pm: Parents are being advised to make other arrangements to get their children home from school this afternoon with a Transport Canberra spokesperson confirming the snap strike by Canberra’s bus drivers will continue for the rest of the day.

Bus services are expected to return to normal from Saturday (16 November).

ACT Education Directorate chief operating officer David Matthews has urged motorists to be careful when picking-up their kids from school.

“We continue to urge the community to be extra diligent today and [be] extra mindful about safety as they’re dropping off their kids and picking them up at the end of the day,” he said.

While most school buses have been affected by the strike, the special needs buses will continue to run.

Mr Matthews said arrangements would be made for students who had their exams or assessments affected.

“We do have existing arrangements if students are unwell or if there’s family commitments or other reasons why student can’t attend school to undertake assessments,” he said.

“We’ll make sure that we get advice out to our schools today to make sure these circumstances are taken into account.

For students doing their HSC, Mr Matthews said the Education Directorate would be “reminding all schools, both government and non-government schools, of the need to be flexible”.

ACT Transport Minister Chris Steel said the government was looking at several methods to protect bus drivers.

He said the government was committed to a plan to add transport officers to buses, who could respond to incidents.

“[These transport workers] would be working across our bus routes to provide a visible presence to promote safety amongst passengers, but also to deter and manage occupational violence being faced by our drivers,” he said.

UPDATE 10 am: Like many commuters in Canberra this morning, Lucy Ridge was sitting at a bus stop, constantly checking the time on her phone and wondering why there wasn’t a bus in sight.

“Fortunately, I was able to get a lift to work with a neighbour, but there was another woman waiting who was quite distressed that she would be late to an appointment,” the Lyneham resident says.

All local bus services are out of action today (15 November) after a snap strike over workplace safety was called by the Transport Workers Union (TWU).

Transport Canberra (TC) issued a statement this morning, saying it was in “urgent talks” with the TWU.

“It is understood the action comes after a bag of fish heads was poured over a driver’s head by a group of teenagers last night,” the statement read.

“Transport Canberra sincerely apologises for the inconvenience and will provide more detail through the day.”

TC officials have been driving between bus stops and interchanges all over the city to let passengers know, while schools have been liaising with student families.

According to TWU ACT sub-branch secretary Klaus Pinkas, drivers have had “enough” of physical assaults.

“We are talking drivers getting beaten up, we’re talking about drivers having a full can of coke thrown at them, we’re talking about drivers who have been spat on, we’ve even had death threats against drivers – you name it, it happens,” he told Region.

There is an average of 40 cases of violence against Canberra bus drivers every month, and “that’s the reported ones”.

“We’ve been onto the bureaucrats in Transport Canberra for years now,” Mr Pinkas said.

“We’ve had meeting after meeting after meeting, I’ve sent cranky emails – in all caps – I’ve sent cranky letters, and our delegates have met with them.”

The union is arguing for safety measures like transit police, better training in deescalating conflicts, the ability to suspend offending passengers – kids and adults alike – from services, and better screens.

“And Transport Canberra is sympathetic, and they agree with all those things, and we discuss ways of alleviating the problem, and nothing is done,” Mr Pinkas said.

“I’ve got drivers who have been working here for 30 years, and they say it never used to be a problem, but it is a problem now, and the response is not there.”

The “stop-work meeting”, as Mr Pinkas described it, will last all of today, and normal bus services will resume from tomorrow. Bus services over the border in Queanbeyan and Googong remain unaffected.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this, and it’s unfortunate that people are getting left at bus stops, but this is not done lightly – drivers are just sick of getting beaten up, simple as that,” he said.

It’s understood Transport Canberra has agreed to meet with the TWU on Monday morning.

In a statement, Minister for Transport Chris Steel said he had asked Transport Canberra to “pursue all options available, including through the Fair Work Commission, to restore bus services”.

“Everyone deserves respect at work, and the government is committed to ensuring safety for all drivers and passengers,” he said.

As for Lucy, now at work thanks to her friend, she “absolutely” supports the bus drivers’ plea.

“Clearly, this demonstrates how crucial their work is, and I hope the transport minister listens to their concerns and acts quickly to address the issues they’re facing.”

8 am: Bus services across Canberra won’t be running today (15 November) as drivers take snap industrial action.

All services are currently affected, with the exception of special needs buses.

Light rail services are unaffected.

It is understood the action comes after a bag of fish heads was poured over a driver’s head by a group of teenagers last night (14 November).

Industrial action is likely to continue throughout the day, with drivers in urgent talks with the Transport Workers Union.

More to come.