Pacific National Bulk EA update and briefing sessions

The Pacific National Bulk negotiating team are in the midst of regular meetings with the company on a new Enterprise Agreement.

Freight Organiser Kevin Pryor said the negotiations, while often tense, are going pretty much to plan at the moment, but he said the coming weeks will be key.

The negotiating team of Mark Supple, Jimmy Ukmar, Brendan Lemay, Gary Teasel, Bob Hayden and Kevin Pryor are looking to have negotiations on Part C, which outlines the working conditions of administration staff, all but completed by the end of the week. And Part B, which covers the train crew, is scheduled for discussion at our next meeting with the company on the 18^th and 19^th of June.

Part A, which is the common clauses for all employees, is proving more difficult to negotiate, but the team is hopeful more headway will be made in the coming weeks.

Kevin Pryor said that the team are currently waiting on the company to come to the table with Pacific National’s proposed duty cycle, which he’s hopeful they will have by the next meeting on the 18^th June. He said that with so much hinging on the duty cycle, it’s hard to get much further in negotiations on Part B without the details on what the company is proposing.

Kevin Pryor said one other issue is the negotiating team haven’t started on the Terminal Operators, which should soon be discussed within the following weeks.

He said the main points of discussion at the last meeting on 6/7th June were:

Available Days: Still waiting on a form of wording around this that clarifies the process in all possible scenarios.
Flying Crews: This is a new clause PN are trying to introduce. Still in discussion about this.

Medical Assessments: The company is insisting that both the blood and medical test should be in your own time. The union is trying to establish what the ‘point of determination is’ and who should pay for the medical tests.
Classification Structure Additional: Talks are ongoing in regards to level 2 to 3 and level 2 to 4
RDO’s for Combination Rosters: If you’re on a combination roster, then it will be pro rate as per your combination. Eg, if you have a 50/50 combination roster, you will receive a extra 8 RDOs and 5 available days on your Blank Lines.
Maximum Shift Lengths (Driver/Driver): The union is considering the PN proposal that for rostered 12hr shifts, it must be a Level 4 or above with a Level 4.
Intervals between shifts: The union is fighting for 12hrs off at your home depot. On Barracks locations, Parkes have insisted that all rest location much have a min of 8hrs off and all other depots are happy with the proposed new time frames.
Mandatory Rest Periods: PN are insisting that you are only entitled to 7.6hrs credit. The union is still seeking the rostered shift/s be credited.
Lift up / Lay Back: PN want 2 up and 4 back
Rest Detention: PN aren’t budging from 12hrs to 11hrs for Rest Detention
Wage Claim: The union wage claim is still 7,7,7 over the three years of the agreement + 1.25 for the lost PIP payment. No agreement has been reached on this yet.

Briefing tour

The RTBU will be holding briefing session at the following locations to update members on the log of claims and the status of negotiations. These meetings are also a chance for members to give feedback to the union on the EA and any other issues.