A delegation of public sector workers met Goulburn state MP and Family and Community Services minister Pru Goward last Friday in an attempt to get the MP to cross the floor and vote against the IR changes.

The delegates included representatives from Fire and Rescue NSW, the Police Association, the Public Service Association, the Teachers Federation, Prison Officers and the RTBU.

RTBU member Mick Murray explained that while the delegation was pleased that Ms Goward gave them an hour and a half of her time to present their case, ultimately she said there was no more money in the state kitty and that the government was the best judge of how limited funds should be spent.

“We explained that there were areas where we could have negotiated with the Government – such as less money cash in hand in return for more super – but the disinterest in consultation and negotiation meant any goodwill the new government may have had has evaporated.”

In Mick’s case, he says, as a train driver he already does several jobs that once were done by others – station master, loco assistant, shunter, signalman – so there really is not much more that can be cut.

“She suggested I could take shorter lunch breaks or less sick leave,” he says. “And I said I don’t get a lunch break!”

Overall Mick felt the meeting was worthwhile from an activism point of view, saying that union members need to be more active – writing letters, making phone calls and meeting with local members regularly. If more people spent a couple of hours a month lobbying government it would be more responsive, he says.

Photo: Goulburn Post

As the freight industry continues to expand, and the reactivation of country depots becomes increasingly important, I was pleased to have the chance to take a four-day regional NSW tour to meet with members and delegates to discuss the issues they are facing.

RTBU delegate Bryan Williams and I travelled to Enfield, Mudgee, Werris Creek, Narrabri, Parkes, Cootamundra and Moss Vale and gained a comprehensive update of conditions from workers on the ground.

One key issue was poor-quality facilities, which range from inappropriate accommodation, where drivers were unable to get sufficient rest between shifts, poor quality of meal rooms and food available, and the shocking, unusable state of toilets on some locomotives.

With the shortage of drivers, back-to-back shifts are also creating potentially dangerous levels of fatigue in drivers.

Also of concern is the practice of recruiting new drivers on fixed-term contracts. Worried that their 12-month contract may not be renewed, these workers feel pressured not to join or associate with the union and are fearful of speaking out about unsafe or substandard conditions.

The member drive during the tour recruited 21 new members, including 11 from Parkes.

The meetings have strengthened the RTBU’s determination that the voices of our regional members are heard, and will continue to work on their behalf with employers to ensure that minimum standards are met and safety issues, particularly fatigue, are addressed.

Bob Hayden

NSW Loco Division Secretary

As previously reported, RailCorp was seeking to recruit and appoint new train drivers directly to Mortdale, Flemington and Hornsby depots, bypassing known Industrial agreements about depot transfer waiting lists.

The RTBU placed this matter into dispute and was only one step away from taking this issue to Fair Work Australia when RailCorp conceded it “had made a  mistake”. A successful resolution was subsequently achieved and the Transfer and Roster Placement Policy was upheld for the benefit of all drivers.

As a part of this resolution, it was agreed that the 3 affected schools of trainees would now have their letters of offer rescinded and be placed on the roster at Central, in line with previous practice for graduating trainees.

The affected graduating drivers are now extremely disgruntled with RailCorp for knowingly giving illegal letters of offer in the first place and the RTBU will be seeking legal advice to obtain some form of redress for these members.

The RTBU has been in negotiations with Pacific National Intermodal to protect workers at the soon to be downsized Grafton depot.

Following improvements to tracks between Brisbane and Taree, drivers transporting steel between the two cities can make the trip within a single shift. As drivers will no longer be required to change over at Grafton, the depot has lost all its intermodal work to Brisbane & Taree Depots.

The Grafton depot can only retain three workers for bulk services, leaving 18 remaining train crew. PN has requested that remaining train crews temporarily relocate to other depots in order to cover a shortfall of crews.

This relocation will be for a period of 6 months when a further review will be completed. PN Intermodal will take 2-3 crews to Brisbane and 2-3 to Taree to cover their shortfalls, and Bulk will need crews in Morandoo, Werris Ck & Narrabri. At the end of the November review, if there is no prospect of further work the crews will then be made redundant.

The Division’s Organiser & Local Delegate have been involved throughout this process and have participated in numerous consultative meetings with members and the company.

RTBU members recently met with RailCorp to resolve a dispute over its recent decision to recruit and appoint graduating Trainee Drivers to Mortdale, Flemington and Hornsby Depots.

As reported previously in Loco Express, the RTBU believes this decision is a breach of the long established Transfer & Roster Placement Policy [and therefore the EA], which allows drivers to transfer under the seniority system to the depot of their choice.

By bypassing this policy, RailCorp have disadvantaged many members and the RTBU have lodged a Notice of Dispute to resolve the issue.

Unfortunately, the meeting with RailCorp failed to provide an adequate solution to the problem so the RTBU will now be escalating the dispute to the next level.

Members will be kept informed of the outcome of this dispute.

The Loco Division recently entered into a dispute with RailCorp over a proposal to add additional work into driver diagrams, which would breach the 2010 EA, the Drivers Rostering and Working Arrangements [DR&WA] and the Transfer & Roster Placement Policy [T&RPP]

During the recent process of amending Drivers Diagrams, additional Diagram work was created at several depots that RailCorp refused to incorporate onto the Depots Master Rosters.

They were of the opinion that this additional work could be distributed throughout the “relief line rosters” and not placed onto the Master Roster.

The Loco Division has successfully argued that RailCorp’s proposal was disadvantageous to its membership as it prohibited drivers from progressing to a permanent position on the Master Roster, limited drivers from duly claiming “lift up/lay back” allowances and restricted fair distribution of overtime.

The 2010 EA is quite specific as to how rosters must be compiled, as is the DR&WA and the T&RPP clearly outlines the rights of drivers to progress to the Master Roster.

The successful outcome to this dispute now requires RailCorp to allocate all known work to the Master Roster. This means a complete re-drafting of the affected Depots Master Rosters. RailCorp have now conceded this and have released Rostering Committee representatives to consult over the required Master Roster changes.

The Loco Division is indebted to the Delegates involved for seeing this dispute through to its successful outcome.

RTBU is pleased to announce that it has had some success in ensuring RailCorp uphold the Transfer and Roster Placement Policy and the Seniority system currently in place.

The RTBU previously reported that it had entered into a dispute with RailCorp over its intention to appoint Trainee Drivers to Mortdale, Hornsby & Flemington Depots upon graduation.

All drivers who were on the transfer list for Mortdale and Flemington will now be accommodated at their nominated depots. This also applies to Hornsby Depot where an additional waiver was offered to fill vacancies within that depot. Not all vacancies were filled at Hornsby via these systems, so the trainees who originally applied should now be able to be accommodated at this depot.

A meeting was held late last year to discuss the various new works being undertaken by RailCorp to construct several new stabling facilities for the suburban fleet.