Pacific National Bulk Rail Moss Vale Master Roster 170 Notices of Dispute

A Union is only as strong as its members and this is an example of how Unionism really works.

In an effort by Pacific National to rush a new Master Roster into operation starting this Sunday (27th October 2019) at the Moss Vale Depot, Pacific National forgot one major item, the members working the roster.

After receiving 50 Notice of Disputes last Monday from members, Pacific National requested an urgent meeting to discuss members concerns. This meeting occurred on Wednesday 23rd October at the Moss Vale Depot and by the time the meeting started the amount of Disputes had risen to over 170. In attendance were Gerald Grove, Joshua Dicello and Kevin Pryor representing all union members with Pacific National Management.

In regards to the 170+ Notice of Disputes, it was highlighted that there were 7 major items.

1. No advice of a commencement date when roster was posted.
2. No Sign Off times allocated to each task.
3. On the Training lines, there were no sign on or sign off times.
4. No Master Roster for Part – Time members.
5. Hours exceeding 152 hours per Duty Cycle.
6. No Fatigue scores allocated on the Mater Roster.
7. Not all known working allocated to the Master Roster.

The outcomes:

1. When the new proposed Master Roster has been completed and agreed, it will then be posted with a commencement date.
2. All Sign off times will be allocated to the new Master Roster
3. Training lines will have a starting time of 0800hrs and finish at 1600hrs. This could change with the posting of the Working Roster as per the current Enterprise Agreement and if this doesn’t occur, then the original 0800 to 1600hrs apply with the exception of lift up and lay back.
4. Part – Time members will be allocated on the new Master Roster
5. Where there were 2 fortnight lines exceeding 80 hours each, it was agreed that they would be placed with a lower line in order to reduce the amount of hours worked.
6. Once the Master Roster is completed, Fatigue scores will be allocated to the new Master Roster.
7. The Enterprise Agreement is quite clear and that all known working is to be posted on the Master Roster. Pacific National is now drafting Lynwood Rake 1, which may include a couple of changes on how it operates currently. It may include an extended stay in barracks of up to 14 hours, change of barracks location from Bankstown to Blacktown and crew car driving. This rake will include all working from Tuesday to Friday and we wait for Pacific National’s draft before any agreement is made.

There were also discussions surrounding a couple of issues, not included with the Notice of Disputes, with the proposed Master Roster. Task 1233 has an agreed change to the sign on time from 0300 to 0230hrs. There will be separate APM’s for the Forecast Roster, the separate Blank Line roster and separate Part – Time members and all APM’s will be made available once the new proposed Master Roster is formulated.

Next steps:

• Pacific National to make all changes as agreed and to work on adding the Lynwood rake 1 to the Master Roster.
• Another meeting with all that was present at Wednesday’s meeting to discuss all changes made to the proposed Master Roster.
• If all parties in agreement, then the proposed Master Roster to be posted
• If no agreement, then we continue the argument until all issues have been resolved.

The amount of Disputes highlights the power of the Union and what members can do when they stick together and fight for their rights and conditions. The power of the union lies with the members on the ground and with 170+ Notice of Disputes highlights a very clear message that members are not to be taken for granted or stood over by management. Congratulations to all concerned.

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