Brisbane news live: Thanks, driver: Bus drivers set for pay rise

Pay talks between Brisbane City Council and the Rail Tram and Bus Union will continue today amid the spectre of strike action.

The union has warned of industrial action next week if the council does not improve its pay offer of 3.5 per cent a year over two years.

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Seeking 4.5 per cent raises, the union’s Tom Brown on Thursday said garbage truck drivers were paid more per hour.

“We are still at the bottom of the food chain,” he said.

But the council’s transport spokesman, Ryan Murphy, said the union was delaying pay increases by holding out for more money.

“Our bus drivers’ pay has increased by almost 30 per cent since 2012 and they are some of the best-paid in the country,” Murphy said.

The union is already engaged in limited industrial action, with drivers not wearing official unions, and would have to give notice of any strike.

The latest Translink customer experience survey showed bus performance in south-east Queensland declined in December.