Transport Minister should apologise for slur on workforce

Workers across NSW woke recently to see the NSW Transport Minister in the newspapers calling hardworking Railcorp workers bludgers.

The offensive and entirely untrue attack on workers came in response to an ‘internal audit’ which found that 1000 employees were being paid but not actually doing their designated job.

RTBU Loco Secretary Bob Hayden said the Transport Minister should apologise immediately to the workforce.

“This is a disgraceful attempt to shift the blame for the government’s mismanagement of the rail system onto its workforce,” Bob Hayden said.

“The Minister’s suggestion that workers are bludgers shows a complete misunderstanding of the workforce.

“The NSW Government hasn’t taken into account all of the staff who have been legitimately redeployed to cover vacant position or were on workers compensation recovering from accidents at work.

“We all know that the claim that hundreds of rail workers are sitting on their couches while receiving full pay is simply untrue.

“This is an outrageous attempt to shift the focus away from the NSW Government’s mismanagement of the rail system and onto its workforce is downright disgraceful.

“The Transport Minister’s is attempting to shift the blame for her government’s lack of investment in rail onto the workers. She must apologise immediately to Railcorp workers for her offensive and inaccurate comments immediately.”

See the Daily Telegraph article here

Click here to see the RTBU’s response