Government takes axe to TAB in the dead of night

The government announced its intentions to abolish the Transport Appeals board on Friday – giving workers and the union just 24 hours notice before the TAB shut its doors to employees’ appeals against promotional or disciplinary decisions.

The Transport Appeals Board was established in 1980 and has provided workers within the NSW transport industry an avenue through which to apply to get their job back if they feel they’re unfairly dismissed. It also allows workers to appeal against disciplinary actions and provides a safeguard to ensure people get jobs on merit – not based on who they know.

Loco Division Secretary Bob Hayden said the union is outraged at the decision and the underhanded way the government has gone about it.

“This decision, that was secretly made by the government without any consultation with the workforce whatsoever, has stripped away important appeal rights for more than 15,000 workers in our industry,” Bob Hayden said.

“Not even the Human Resources departments knew this was coming. It’s just another example of the State Government secretly trying to drive down standards in the industry without consulting with its workforce at all.

“The Transport Minister has claimed that the board is costly and leads to delays, and to rub salt into the wounds, has made tasteless and baseless comments in the media about crooks, racists and liars being allowed back to work after hearings by the Transport Appeals Board in an attempt to justify the decision.

“The RTBU will be doing everything in our power to ensure workers are not stripped of basic rights at the hands of government cost cutting.”

If anyone has any queries about the decision, please contact your local delegate.

See the message from Transport for NSW here