Loco Express: Secretary’s Report

October 11, 2019

Secretary’s Message

Dear members,

The freight Southern Depot Tour with Brian Head has finished and thank you to everyone who came out to share their thoughts and voice their concerns. It was good to meet up with the members and their contributions are appreciated.

It’s been quite a week for NSW Trains members with the executive proving that they profit off the backs of members’ hard work. The NSW Trains team has had their ‘Staff Awards’ in which members on the ground, putting in the hard yards despite the terrible conditions, received no recognition at all. Instead, managers who should’ve been looking after members during the work on the Main Western Line at Glenbrook but were nowhere to be seen, accepted trophies and pats on the back. It is disgraceful to see such a blatant display of disregard for frontline staff from this self-serving management.

Meanwhile, over at Pacific National, they’ve decided to move to a new freight terminal with limited consultation. However, after a Notice of Dispute was lodged, PN was forced to provide concessions including basic facilities for employees. We are also working to increase consultation between PN and employees. Well done to those members and delegates for standing up and being involved.

Rural fire services are being deployed to areas in NSW as the North Coast Line suffers from the intense heat. I encourage everyone to stay safe and offer help and support to any members affected by the fires.

Rural rail services and passengers have had a win though with patronage increasing on the Hunter rail line from the introduction of the Newcastle light rail. Although this was introduced off the back of a terrible decision to cut the Newcastle rail, the number of commuters using the service is beginning to get back to normal. The new Bathurst Bullet rail service has also been a win for regional areas with the new Bathurst service attracting over 600 new commuters and improving access to and from rural towns. 

The Gold Coast rail is getting two additional stations according to commuter demand. Definitely something the NSW Government should look into instead of prioritising Pyrmont over the western suburbs desperately in need of improved services.

In other news, all members are invited to have some fun tomorrow for the Enfield Smoko at the Carlingford Bowling Club and the Moss Vale Retirement Drinks at Mittagong RSL. More details are below.

I hope you’ll enjoy this edition of Loco Express. Your comments to articles would be appreciated.

Stay safe on the tracks.

In Solidarity, 

Bob Hayden
RTBU Locomotive Division Secretary