Source: NZCTU
Working people in the greater Wellington region face yet another cost increase from Friday, when Metlink fares rise 3.1 percent and the Snapper off-peak discount drops from 30 to 20 percent.
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi President Sandra Grey says the timing could not be worse.
“Like all Kiwis, Wellingtonians are already being squeezed from every direction. Groceries are up, electricity is up, and we are in the middle of a fuel supply crisis. Now the bus and the train are going up too. Something has to give, and right now it is working people’s wages,” Grey says.
“This hike hits shift workers hardest. Cutting the off-peak discount from 30 to 20 percent is effectively a tax on the cleaners, hospo workers, nurses, and security staff who travel outside the 9-to-3 and after-6:30pm windows because that is when their work demands it.”
A Wairarapa commuter travelling from Masterton to Wellington will pay an extra 56 cents each way at peak – close to $290 a year for a five-day-a-week commuter.
Greater Wellington’s decision was made on 19 February, before the recent fuel price increases. They have said they are monitoring the impact of fuel costs on transport.
“Greater Wellington needs to revisit this decision in light of the fuel crisis. And the Government needs to step up. Public transport is essential infrastructure – not a user-pays luxury. The funding settings that force councils to keep raising fares are broken,” Grey says.
Grey says the CTU is calling on central government to lift its share of public transport funding so that councils around the motu are not forced into a cycle of annual fare hikes that hit working people hardest.