RailCorp has decided to appeal a Fair Work Australia ruling on sectorisation handed down in March.

The FWA ruled in favour of the RTBU saying the introduction of sectorisation, which would prevent drivers being rostered outside their regular sector, was in breach of the current EA.

The RTBU is required to provide a submission to FWA by May 18 and the matter will be heard by the full bench on May 22.

Read the original LocoExpress sectorisation story here.

C11.CIR – RailCorp Train Crew Update No.8

The RTBU has reached an agreement with PN Coal regarding the interpretation of the stand-down clause of the EA.

The union recently disputed the way stand-down notices were delivered recently at Port Kembla and Lithgow, but after discussions, PN acknowledged and agreed with most of the issues raised by the RTBU.

The union was attempting to set in place a clear process to be followed when facing the prospect of rolling stoppages by a third party as happened at Port Kembla and Lithgow.

The issues revolved around when a stand down is valid, how and when employees, and the union, are notified about impending stand downs, the information that must be supplied in the notice and the need for the company to estimate the length of the stand down in the notices.

The company agreed to begin consultation with the employees and the union as soon as practical before the notices are sent out and to aim for better dialogue between the company and the union.

PN also agreed that employees would be allowed to take leave that is at least equivalent to the length of the notified stand-down period. Where an employee wants to request a larger block of leave the company agreed it would be considered on a case-by-case basis and that approval should not be unreasonably withheld.

The RTBU was satisfied with the outcome of the discussions and advised the FWA that the dispute had been settled and conciliation was no longer required.

An inadequate stand-down notice issued by PN Coal, that affected train crew at Port Kembla and Lithgow, has lead to the RTBU seeking help from FWA help clarify how stand-down notices should be issued to employees.

The notice was issued as a result of CFMEU protected industrial action at Port Kembla and the issues in dispute are that, in breach of Clause 11 of the EA, PN did not provide the required two days written notice to employees before the start of the proposed stand down.

PN also did not specify a time frame for the stand down, simply saying it would be for an “undefined period of time”. There is also contention as to whether there was sufficient consultation as soon as practical before the stand down.

Although the proposal was withdrawn the day before the stand down was due to start, the RTBU wants to resolve any discrepancies in the interpretation of Clause 11 in order to ensure that any future stand-down notifications follow the correct procedure.

PN has replied that it doesn’t think their application of the stand-down clause is incorrect and that there is therefore no need to take the issue to FWA.

On February 28 the RTBU applied to the FWA to have the matter heard. In the meantime PN have agreed to meet, but also acknowledges that if the meeting can’t resolve the issues, the RTBU reserves its right to go to FWA.

The meeting will take place this Thursday, and if required, the FWA conciliation is set for Friday.

At the end of August the NSW Government tried to pass an amendment to the Transport Administration Act which covers employees in State Government transport agencies such as RailCorp, RTA and Sydney Ferries.

Fortunately, before the amendments could be passed, the Labor Party and Shooters and Fishers Party were successful in making a number of changes – sending the bill back to the Lower House.

In its original form the amendments would give the State Government the power to transfer, without consultation, employees in transport agencies to positions within the newly created Transport Service of NSW.

Workers who are currently protected by the Federal Fair Work Act would then be covered by O’Farrell’s new low-wage public sector laws where employees’ salaries, wages and conditions are fixed by the Director General of Transport, without recourse to an independent umpire.

If the amendment had passed, workers’ existing conditions would be stripped in the transfer and they’d lose their right to bargain for fair wages and conditions.

Initially the legislation would apply about 1,100 administrative employees whose positions are being amalgamated into the new agency. Potentially, however, the Director General of Transport could apply to have all government transport workers moved into the NSW IR system.

The amendment would also lay the groundwork for outsourcing ‘non-core’ work such as cleaning and maintenance.

The changes made to the amendment by the Labor Party and the Shooters and Fishers Party were:

•   To stop the Director General from being able to dismiss a worker who refuses a transfer;

•   To remove a section of the legislation that would mean only base salary and superannuation of a transferred employee would be protected – that is, all other monetary benefits could be taken away; and

•   To add further protection to transferred employees by ensuring the wages and conditions they were receiving on the day of transfer will be maintained in the new position.

Following the changes made in the Upper House, the Bill will be considered again by the Lower House, where the Coalition has a majority.

The Coalition has three options:

•   to accept the changes made and pass the Bill;

•   to reject the changes and send the original Bill back to the Upper house and see if they can convince minor parties to support it; or

•   to negotiate with the minor parties to come to an agreed position on the Bill which would reverse some or perhaps all of the proposed changes.

The RTBU is campaigning hard to try and prevent these laws passing in their original form. LocoExpress will keep you updates on the progress of the Bill.

The EA, which will make Freightliner employees the highest paid employees with some of the best conditions, will come into effect today.

The agreement will see workers receive a 12% pay rise over 3 years and a substantial performance allowance, amongst other things.

This EA will set a new industry standard for future negotiations.

Well done to all the members and delegates who worked hard to achieve this outcome.

Freightliner Coal Haulage employees have unanimously voted in favour of an Enterprise Agreement that will make them the highest-paid freight drivers in the state for a 38-hour week.

The vote was held on Friday 8 April, the agreement was signed by both parties and has been submitted to Fair Work Australia for approval.

This agreement should be in force before 1 May and is likely to see employment in the Rail Industry become competitive.

El Zorro workers will be pleased to know that their agreement was approved by Fair Work Australia on Monday 7th March 2011.

From the 14th of March over 100 workers across NSW and Victoria will now work under agreements that bring them up to industry standard in terms of pay rates and conditions. In particular, Roster Days Off will now be properly defined as from midnight to 6 am the following day, rather than any 36 hour period.

This agreement will expire on the 31st December 2013.

The RTBU and PN Intermodal met in Fair Work Australia on Monday of this week for conciliation in an attempt to resolve an outstanding dispute regarding the crediting of hours for blank days on a Public Holiday.

The dispute has been ongoing since November 2010 when various drivers were either rostered blank, or booked off blank on the working roster, and PN made no credit of any hours for the public holiday.

Similarly the same happened at Christmas/New Year. FWA did not make a ruling as it was felt that both sides have a valid argument as there was ambiguity in the Agreement.

This leaves us in a position to explore further options to resolve the dispute and we are currently seeking further advice to our options, at the same time continuing discussions with PN. The RTBU remains committed to obtaining a resolution to this issue.

All members should scrutinise their payslips with the details provided by PN each week and to dispute any discrepancies. The Division will support any member who feels that they have been underpaid as per their EA.