City streets filled with extra traffic this morning as bus commuters sought alternative ways into the CBD amid a 24-hour work stoppage by hundreds of Torrens Transit bus drivers striking for better pay and conditions.

The Transport Workers Union, which says it has more than 700 members working for Torrens Transit in a company workforce of more than 1000 people, is asking the employer to pay bus drivers more than $32 per hour.

According to Torrens Transit, the current hourly rate is $28.58, although the TWU has claimed the average wage for some new drivers is as low as $25.70 per hour.

The two parties are due to resume enterprise bargaining negotiations tomorrow.

Today’s strike brought major disruption to the East-West, Outer North East (which includes the O-Bahn), North-South (which includes the CBD) and Outer North bus contract regions.

Asked by InDaily whether more strikes were on the cards, TWU SA branch secretary Ian Smith said: “[With] the way things are looking I’d say it’s the first of many.”

“But as always, the union and our members will consider any offer put forward.

“We will bargain in good faith, but we’re going to be pretty staunch in our position on safety and we’re going to be pretty staunch in our position on a fair outcome on wages. We need some conditions back, it’s that simple.”

The union is seeking changes to the company’s rostering system where it says a driver can be rostered for more than 12.5 hours but only paid for six to seven hours due to a lengthy break in between.

It is also seeking improved weekend penalty rates, annual leave loading, enforceable four-minute turnaround times so drivers “can stand up and go to the toilet”, and changes to rostering to give drivers more notice about their shift times.

“I know this government and [Transport Minister] Tom Koutsantonis wants a great public transport system in place,” Smith said.

“If we don’t fix the conditions of this group of workers or these bus drivers, it doesn’t matter who the employer is – we’re still going to have a terrible shit service.

“This is an opportunity, I see it, when we’ve got one company that has 80 per cent of the network to sit down and come up with a solution that makes drivers safe.”

The TWU today released a survey of 350 Torrens Transit bus drivers about their experience driving buses in Adelaide.

The survey found 82 per cent of polled workers will “consider leaving the industry if conditions do not improve”. It also found 91 per cent of surveyed workers have experienced verbal abuse and 49 per cent have experienced physical abuse.

Smith said the state government “can’t wash their hands” of the driver safety issue as the majority of Torrens Transit buses are government-owned.

“Let’s get full driver protection screens in buses, let’s get more security,” he said.

“If you’re on a bus, you never see a security guard on a bus – if you’re on a train or a tram after dark, every train or a tram has security guard on it.

“We’ve got drivers that are reporting people bringing guns on the buses, we’ve got drivers who are reporting knives, scissors, bottles – it’s just totally unfair.”

But Koutsantonis said that “the truth about a strike is everyone loses, including the drivers”.

He also said the city was hit with a “traffic logjam” due to the strike and a separate accident in the CBD.

“I think every South Australian commuter today has every right to be upset and annoyed with not only the union but also Torrens Transit,” he told reporters today.

“I am disappointed that on the first day when most South Australian are going back to work they’re greeted with a bus strike when tomorrow both parties have already agreed to meet and discuss new offers.

“It’s now incumbent on these two organisations to get together and sort this out.”

Traffic on Pulteney Street in the CBD this morning. Photo: Thomas Kelsall/InDaily

Koutsantonis said the state government has been “in constant contact” with both the union and the company.

“What I want to see tomorrow is the union and the employer to get together like good corporate citizens and discuss a way forward that doesn’t inconvenience South Australians,” he said.

“We want our bus drivers to be safe, we want them to be well paid.

“We also want our patrons to have an appropriate form of public transport so they can get in and out of work quickly.

“We also want to have an operator who is making a profit and is continuing to provide a service – that shouldn’t be beyond the realms of the imagination and the operator to provide this.”

Torrens Transit today did not change its position of offering a 5.75 per cent first year wage increase along with a 0.25 per cent increase to the national superannuation guarantee rate.

“We hope to resolve the outstanding issues with the union at Tuesday’s meeting, through meaningful discussion and open dialogue,” a company spokesperson said in a statement today.

“We are disappointed the union has taken this action before the first planned meeting of the year.

“We are offering above market rates and conditions for our staff. We hope the union can return to the negotiating table with a more realistic approach to the wage discussions.”

The Malinauskas Government has commissioned an internal report from the Transport Department on the feasibility of bringing Adelaide’s bus services – privatised in 2000 – back into public hands.

The report is due to be handed down in February.

Premier Peter Malinauskas, asked today whether he felt he needed to intervene in the negotiations, said: “We keep all our options open.”