Secretary’s wrap

NSW sweltered in 40+ degree heat today, which as we all know can have a significant impact on our transport systems and workers.

As this brutal reminder that summer is here hit us today, I’d like to take this opportunity to remind all members to take care during extreme weather. If you have any concerns about the safety of your workplace during the hot weather, please contact your local delegate or the Loco Division office immediately.

While we can’t control the weather unfortunately, one things members do have some control over is the Sydney Trains reform process.

Thank you to all the members who took the time to complete the second member survey about the Sydney Trains reform process. Again, the results clearly show members’ views on some of the initial ideas coming from management. We’re taking all this information on board, and it will certainly help shape how we move forward.

We’ve also had some interesting discussions with Pacific National recently, after the company sent a message to members blaming the Loco Division for PN’s decision to withdraw its in-principle agreement for a new enterprise agreement.

The problem with PN’s message was that it was blatantly untrue. You can read more about this issue in the article below, but the short of it is that Pacific National decided to claim that the union was making outrageous last minute demands. The truth is that we’d only asked that all the expiry dates of the agreement to align…

We’ll keep you posted on how that one progresses.

I trust you’ll enjoy this edition of Loco Express. Stay cool in this warm weather and, as always, stay safe on the tracks.

Bob Hayden
Secretary, Loco Division