Loco TV – 13 November 2014

In this edition of LocoTV, hear about the SSR wage freeze, a big win in Newcastle recently, the changing of train whistle regulations, and the new My Success at Work program.

1.

Things are still looking bleak at Southern Shorthaul Rail, with the company insisting on pushing ahead with its wage freeze.

The Loco Division would like to make it very clear that it does not support the freeze, particularly given the company has refused to show any evidence at all for the need to freeze employees’ pay.

The company will be asking members to vote on whether to accept the freeze in the near future – a process which unfortunately the Loco Division is powerless to stop.

If more than half of employees either don’t vote at all, or vote to accept the wage freeze, the freeze will go ahead.

2.

Sydney Trains members should get prepared to spend a bit of quality time with their managers.

Management is introducing a new program called My Success at Work which is due to be rolled out to all frontline staff following the completion of a trial of the program which is about to get underway.

The aim is for employees to discuss with their managers how they can meet certain business and customer service objectives.

Only time will tell whether this is yet another harebrained scheme, or a good use of resources.

3.

We’ve got some good news from Newcastle, with the long running dispute over the allocation of shed jobs at the Newcastle depot finally being resolved.

After much debate, the Loco Division has finally been able to ensure that all known work is incorporated into the main Newcastle roster and that it is then fairly distributed among employees.

Congratulations to the local delegates who were involved in this win.

4.

Train whistles could soon be a thing of the past, with Sydney Trains moving to remove the requirement for drivers to sound their horns when entering and exiting tunnels.

Rather than amending the regulation to allow for trains to avoid using the whistle at tunnels, the company is proposing a broad “no whistle” policy.

Before its introduction, each tunnel will be risk assessed. The Loco Division and workplace Health and safety team will be involved in that process.

Stay tuned for more info on this.