The Employment Court has ruled New Zealand's largest bus company must lift its lockout notice issued to Wellington drivers.
NZ Bus issued the lockout notice this week, saying a proposed strike and the threat of further industrial action left it with no other choice.
The Tramways Union, which represents Wellington bus drivers, filed an injunction to overturn their employer's lockout on Saturday morning saying it was "morally inappropriate" and "unlawful".
On Saturday afternoon, the Employment Court ruled NZ Bus were "prohibited from locking out employees" based on the strike notices served by the union on Thursday.
In a statement NZ Bus said they accept the interim ruling from the court and aims to restore bus services from Sunday.
They agreed to participate in mediation next week but said they would not rule out further industrial action in the future
"NZ Bus cannot rule out further industrial action in the future should significant progress not be made during the mediation next week," the statement read.
The court said the Union had an "arguable case" that the lockout notices did not comply with the Employment Relations Act.
The judge also said they took into account the effect the "open-ended" lockout would have on the public.
There was no definitive time frame for the lockout as it was planned to end once drivers accepted an offer for a new agreement from NZ Bus.
Wellington bus services on Sunday may be "incomplete and uncertain" but normal services will resume on Monday, the court says.
The Council of Trade Unions (CTU) says the ruling is a "huge relief".
"This decision is a huge relief for bus drivers who have been on the receiving end of an indefinite lockout and who faced the prospect of no income for an indefinite period," says CTU President Richard Wagstaff.
"NZ Bus was hoping to starve the bus drivers into submission with this lockout, but this decision has for now stopped them in their tracks."
NZ Bus, owned by Australian private equity firm Next Capital, has been in a pay dispute with its drivers. This pay dispute is what prompted drivers to announce Friday's strike, NZ Bus following this by starting the lockout.
"We thought long and hard about this and regret that we've had to take this step, but we have no option," NZ Bus said in a statement, claiming Tramways Union members had been offered "significant pay increases" and "the best pay and conditions in the industry".
While the offer would have increased drivers' pay to $23.75 an hour, above the so-called living wage, drivers would also have lost several benefits - such as annual leave and penalty rates for night and weekend shifts.
Both NZ Bus and the Tramways Union have been invited to attend a private mediation process next week.
Wagstaff says the union now needs "sanity to prevail" and for "NZ Bus to accept the offer by the council to fund an increase in base rates, leave the other important protections alone, and settle a new collective agreement".
