NIF Wage Offer Discussions

Members will recall the recent Footplate regarding the outcomes of the Fair Work conciliation and the suggestion from Deputy President Sams that the RTBU and NSW Trains undertake discussions regarding the wage offer tabled in November 2019.

These discussions commenced on the 2nd of March with NSW Trains presenting their logic behind their proposed 4% wage rise offered to drivers for assuming the new duties and responsibilities associated with the NSW Trains operating model on the NIF.

Their presentation amounted to a comparison between the duties and responsibilities of a Regional driver on XPT and Explorer services compared to those of a future NIF driver.

NSW Trains failed to provide a comprehensive and detailed breakdown of the significant increase in NIF driver duties and responsibilities and focused solely on the new elements of the platform train interface duties associated with train departure as justification for the wage offer below that of a Regional driver.

This was despite a written request for detailed information regarding work value/workload assessments as well as risk assessment and human factors documentation that supports the viability of the proposed increase in the future NIF driver’s workload, none of which was provided and one could only conclude that it doesn’t actually exist.

The Loco Division provided NSW Trains with detailed historical information regarding how the Regional driver wage increase was attained in 1994 and what duties and responsibilities were undertaken by the driver to achieve that increase. We believe the wage offer that NSW Trains has proposed for a NIF Drivers totally undervalues the role of a NIF Driver and the increased duties, workload and responsibilities they are seeking to force on NIF Driver.

Further discussion are planned to discuss the NSW Trains wage offer for both drivers and the customer service guards however, the Loco division retains its original position that NSW Trains cannot make the changes it proposes without utilising Clause 12 of the current EA or through negotiation in the next EA.

Click here to download the Footplate.