Secretary’s wrap

Politics in Australia is throwing some real curve balls at the moment.

Last weekend we saw a huge swing against the incumbent Liberal/National Government in Queensland – based in part at least on the Newman’s Government’s unpopular privatisation plans.

And news just in is that the Prime Minister will face a spill against his leadership early next week…

With our NSW election less than two months away, and the Baird Government’s keen interest in privatising our vital assets (including of our rail networks), the election campaign here will no doubt also be very interesting.

Rail is sure to be a hot topic as the NSW election campaign really ramps up, with the Newcastle Rail line debacle and the North West Rail Link already courting controversy.

Rest assured the RTBU will be continuing to fight hard against the ripping up of the Newcastle line, the introduction of driverless trains on the North West Rail Link and the privatisation of our public assets generally.

In other news, the Freightliner Coal EA has now been formalised but the QUBE EA negotiations have hit a roadblock, with a new company management team taking over the negotiations and back flipping on some of the already agreed clauses.

It’s shaping up to be a difficult negotiation phase in QUBE, but we’ll be working with the members to ensure we get an agreement that provides workers with the conditions they deserve. Stay tuned.

Stay safe on the tracks,

Bob Hayden
Loco Division Secretary