7 April 2011

No buses on Sunday and bugger all on Saturday

7 April 2011 | johnboy

Territory And Municipal Services are warning that weekend services won’t be all they should be with mechanics downing tools:

Due to industrial action by the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), there will be disruptions to this weekend’s bus services, James Roncon, Director, ACTION, announced today.

“The AMWU has placed a ban on overtime work which means that buses cannot be maintained or refuelled this weekend which cripples the bus service,” Mr Roncon said. “In order to minimise any disruption to Monday services a decision has had to be made to run a Sunday timetable on Saturday and cancel Sunday services.

“There may also be reductions in the number of wheelchair-accessible buses which run on Saturday due to difficulties in re-fuelling them.

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Bussie9:32 pm 14 Apr 11

buzz819 said :

KB1971 said :

shadow boxer said :

@kb1971 are you serious, it’s unskilled labour that literally anyone can do, you probably shouldn’t do it if you have anger management issues but these guys are vastly overpaid.

Get in the bus and follow the sheet of left and rights you get handed.

I know a qualified spray painter who went driving act buses because it’s the worlds cushiest job.

30-40k a year max

I am definately serious. The skill level might be minimal to you (& some of the other posters here) & the level required to do the job daily moreso but just remember that same bus driver you a looking down your nose at can have up to 100 people lives (on the long buses) in his hands at any one time.

He is also responsible for $6-700,000 worth of publically owned equipment.

How do you think it would go if it all turned to s***? With the amount of buses running around this city they must be doing something right 😉

What are you talking about? Mums have been doing it for years, they can have up to 6 kid’s in one car, just means people who do family day care, by your rationality, should be getting close $70,000 a year.

How would it turn to sh!t? I mean any more then what it is now. I think the city will get by a lot better with out buses, then other lower paid professions ie. Teachers, Police, Firies, Nurses, Correction’s (well maybe not Correction’s) and Defence personnel. They all do a lot more for the community then bus drivers.

There is a day set down to do maintenance, yet no one is rostered on for it? Sounds like the worst decision ever to me.

Bus drivers get more weekly pay to cover weekend loading, yet they don’t work weekends, what a wank. Bus drivers think they have a hard job, well at the end of the day, if you were to crash a bus on the suburban streets of Canberra, the worst that would happen is a squashed car, maybe one or two people in that car would be injured, no worse than a doctor or nurse misdiagnosing someone, or a firie no putting out a house fire fast enough.

I have been to a number of bus crashes, full of kids, where people have been seriously hurt, yet not one person on the bus was hurt, so don’t pull that tripe out here. People on the buses are safe.

You think you get paid more for that, I doubt it, because the law would keep you pretty well in line, whether you are getting paid $30k or $200k.

You were the ones that wanted to be bus drivers, you were the ones that applied for the job, I’m sure at the time you knew there was no prospect for promotion. So just deal with it.

When Action fails and it will, and not one of the bus drivers are kept on staff and there are an extra, what 100 people with out a job because of it, all you bus drivers can thank yourselves for driving the company into the ground with your stupid grabs at money and strikes.

ps. Just having a look at Job sites around Australia, bus drivers, on average are earning $48,000 – $56,000 pa. That includes places like Sydney, where public transport, well works. Have a think how lucky you guys are and try and work around the idea’s that you are worth one millions dollars, because quite frankly you’re not.

So by the figure that you lot always quote ($59k/yr) we aren’t that overpaid if at all if the typical Australian bus driver is on $48-56K especially given that wages in Canberra are generally higher and the cost of living is second only to Sydney IIRC.

KB19713:52 pm 11 Apr 11

shadow boxer said :

What is your bus doing on the wrong side of the road ?

.

Blown tyre, broken steering, aqua plane, swerving to miss an obstacle….need I go on?

Agree that the wages are higher due to the old days prior to self government. Mind you, if I were on a good thing I would try to hold onto it.

shadow boxer2:53 pm 11 Apr 11

What is your bus doing on the wrong side of the road ?

Again it’s not that hard, perhaps I should have included keep left but I thought it was a given..

Those salaries are just a hangover from the bad old days when the only way to get a job on the buses was through your dad or a mate and turned up when you felt like it.

Where’s Chris Corrigan when you need him. A clandistine rebel army of ninja bus drivers moving in over the weekend should sort it out.

KB19711:28 pm 11 Apr 11

buzz819 said :

I have been to a number of bus crashes, full of kids, where people have been seriously hurt, yet not one person on the bus was hurt, so don’t pull that tripe out here. People on the buses are safe.

You think you get paid more for that, I doubt it, because the law would keep you pretty well in line, whether you are getting paid $30k or $200k.

You were the ones that wanted to be bus drivers, you were the ones that applied for the job, I’m sure at the time you knew there was no prospect for promotion. So just deal with it.

When Action fails and it will, and not one of the bus drivers are kept on staff and there are an extra, what 100 people with out a job because of it, all you bus drivers can thank yourselves for driving the company into the ground with your stupid grabs at money and strikes.

ps. Just having a look at Job sites around Australia, bus drivers, on average are earning $48,000 – $56,000 pa. That includes places like Sydney, where public transport, well works. Have a think how lucky you guys are and try and work around the idea’s that you are worth one millions dollars, because quite frankly you’re not.

I snipped a bit out. I will also state that I am not a bus driver so I am not sure where you are directing the “you” on your comments.

Did you attend the crash in Kempsie that killed 30 odd people & injured many more? No I dont think so.

No person moving in 12 tonnes of steel are safe & if you think a head on with two bussed annot happen here you are extremely nieve. Thats what I mean by it all turning to shit.

Please quantify how Action will fail for me please? Its owned by the government, how will it fail?

Man I would love to see what some of your people do for a living, I bet I could poke holes in that.

buzz81911:53 am 11 Apr 11

KB1971 said :

shadow boxer said :

@kb1971 are you serious, it’s unskilled labour that literally anyone can do, you probably shouldn’t do it if you have anger management issues but these guys are vastly overpaid.

Get in the bus and follow the sheet of left and rights you get handed.

I know a qualified spray painter who went driving act buses because it’s the worlds cushiest job.

30-40k a year max

I am definately serious. The skill level might be minimal to you (& some of the other posters here) & the level required to do the job daily moreso but just remember that same bus driver you a looking down your nose at can have up to 100 people lives (on the long buses) in his hands at any one time.

He is also responsible for $6-700,000 worth of publically owned equipment.

How do you think it would go if it all turned to s***? With the amount of buses running around this city they must be doing something right 😉

What are you talking about? Mums have been doing it for years, they can have up to 6 kid’s in one car, just means people who do family day care, by your rationality, should be getting close $70,000 a year.

How would it turn to sh!t? I mean any more then what it is now. I think the city will get by a lot better with out buses, then other lower paid professions ie. Teachers, Police, Firies, Nurses, Correction’s (well maybe not Correction’s) and Defence personnel. They all do a lot more for the community then bus drivers.

There is a day set down to do maintenance, yet no one is rostered on for it? Sounds like the worst decision ever to me.

Bus drivers get more weekly pay to cover weekend loading, yet they don’t work weekends, what a wank. Bus drivers think they have a hard job, well at the end of the day, if you were to crash a bus on the suburban streets of Canberra, the worst that would happen is a squashed car, maybe one or two people in that car would be injured, no worse than a doctor or nurse misdiagnosing someone, or a firie no putting out a house fire fast enough.

I have been to a number of bus crashes, full of kids, where people have been seriously hurt, yet not one person on the bus was hurt, so don’t pull that tripe out here. People on the buses are safe.

You think you get paid more for that, I doubt it, because the law would keep you pretty well in line, whether you are getting paid $30k or $200k.

You were the ones that wanted to be bus drivers, you were the ones that applied for the job, I’m sure at the time you knew there was no prospect for promotion. So just deal with it.

When Action fails and it will, and not one of the bus drivers are kept on staff and there are an extra, what 100 people with out a job because of it, all you bus drivers can thank yourselves for driving the company into the ground with your stupid grabs at money and strikes.

ps. Just having a look at Job sites around Australia, bus drivers, on average are earning $48,000 – $56,000 pa. That includes places like Sydney, where public transport, well works. Have a think how lucky you guys are and try and work around the idea’s that you are worth one millions dollars, because quite frankly you’re not.

shadow boxer11:22 am 11 Apr 11

Mate, it’s bus driving ffs…

I know they threaten to kill all our kids as soon as pay is mentioned but it’s not that hard.

Go forward, turn left or right depending on what the piece of paper says, stop at the stops, go home.

KB197110:26 am 11 Apr 11

shadow boxer said :

@kb1971 are you serious, it’s unskilled labour that literally anyone can do, you probably shouldn’t do it if you have anger management issues but these guys are vastly overpaid.

Get in the bus and follow the sheet of left and rights you get handed.

I know a qualified spray painter who went driving act buses because it’s the worlds cushiest job.

30-40k a year max

I am definately serious. The skill level might be minimal to you (& some of the other posters here) & the level required to do the job daily moreso but just remember that same bus driver you a looking down your nose at can have up to 100 people lives (on the long buses) in his hands at any one time.

He is also responsible for $6-700,000 worth of publically owned equipment.

How do you think it would go if it all turned to s***? With the amount of buses running around this city they must be doing something right 😉

georgesgenitals6:35 am 11 Apr 11

Bussie said :

georgesgenitals said :

farnarkler said :

If this city has house prices the way they are then good on bus drivers for being paid what they are.

Having bus drivers earning $100k per year is a big reason as to why this city has such high prices.

georgesgenitals said :

farnarkler said :

If this city has house prices the way they are then good on bus drivers for being paid what they are.

Having bus drivers earning $100k per year is a big reason as to why this city has such high prices.

Hardly any drivers earn $100k a year. Even if many were please explain to this mere bus driver how we’d have such a huge effect on house prices?

There are plenty of jobs in this town that require only a small amount of time in training to get into that pay well (maybe not $100k per year, but certainly at or above average Australian income). This gives the local population larger buying power compared to other places. And one of the way this manifests itself is higher house prices.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not that worried, simply making an observation.

Bussie10:20 pm 10 Apr 11

pandaman said :

Very Busy said :

shadow boxer said :

30-40k a year max

Any credibility you might have had has just been lost on that ridiculous statement. Nobody except maybe school leavers would work 40 hours per week for that money. There wouldn’t be anyone to drive the buses except perhaps a few down and out P platers. That would work really well wouldn’t it!!!!

The only people with a lack of credibility here are those claiming that someone with a truck licence and an in house training course under their belt, working a 40hr week driving are for some reason worth substantially more than any transport worker in private industry. Were they working for an employer with half a brain and a bit of business nouse rather than the ACT government, who seem happy to roll over every time the unions start talking total crap, they’d be paid substantially less.

I wonder if the inflated wage rate for Action has an effect on Deanes ability to retain staff? Given that they have to turn a profit, and there’s this bastard of a subsidised monster next door that suffers zero consequences for poor performance, you’d have to think that it stifles their opportunities a little, and may go some way towards explaining why it’s cheaper to drive than use Deanes a lot of the time.

I’m pretty sure Deanes also get some government subsidies.

Those of you who constantly whine about how ridiculously overpaid we are should stop to consider
that despite the supposedly cushy nature of the job ACTION has constant trouble retaining enough drivers.

As I said on the last thread about this, we are basically APS 4s which as far as I know is pretty much entry level in the public service these days. I’ve never been an office worker so I don’t know how hard the job is but I’d be surprised if being a brand new pube wasn’t easier than being a bus driver.

However I doubt I’m going to convince any of you but I can reassure you that ACTION staff intend to stick together to defend our pay and conditions.

Bussie10:08 pm 10 Apr 11

georgesgenitals said :

farnarkler said :

If this city has house prices the way they are then good on bus drivers for being paid what they are.

Having bus drivers earning $100k per year is a big reason as to why this city has such high prices.

georgesgenitals said :

farnarkler said :

If this city has house prices the way they are then good on bus drivers for being paid what they are.

Having bus drivers earning $100k per year is a big reason as to why this city has such high prices.

Hardly any drivers earn $100k a year. Even if many were please explain to this mere bus driver how we’d have such a huge effect on house prices?

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