One Rail pay increase now the only sticking point

May 5, 2023Employer News One Rail

After two days of productive meetings, in principle agreement was reached on several outstanding matters however Pay increases remain not agreed.

Your negotiating team initially had put forward a claim of 28% over four years based on the current economic times and to recognise the dedication and commitment shown by members during the pandemic. We made clear we would only review our position after we had resolved all outstanding claims including roster issues.

This week ORA made an initial offer of 12% over the four-year term of the agreement. Your negotiation team made a counteroffer following which ORA made a revised offer.

ONE RAIL’s final offer is as follows;

4 Year Agreement
$400 Payment indexed for working outside lift-up layback parameters.
Payout of all current DILS upon certification.

Your delegates put forward that they did not believe this offer would be acceptable to members considering that one percent of each year’s increases is to cover income protection insurance costs as was negotiated in the last EA.

In an attempt to reach agreement, the delegates put forward a further counter proposal that included dropping the sunset claim, with the belief that members need increases sooner rather than later.

Your Negotiation Teams proposal is as follows;

The annual increases include the income protection offset (as per current process)
Delegates accept the $400 Standalone payment (indexed to agreement) for working outside Lift up Lay Back parameters should members choose to do so.
Current accumulation of DIL days to be paid out the day before implementation of the new roster.
The New roster be introduced no later than three months after certification of the agreement.
The choice for employees to salary sacrifice the DIL payment.

ORA management advised they did not have authority to agree to our revised proposal as it is above what has been approved by the board. They advised they will discuss our proposal and formally write to the Locomotive Division within two days.

Management have consistently stated over the past two days that we are not that far apart, your team is hopeful the ORA executive will see the benefits of the overall negotiation proposal and come back with a favourable response, or counter offer which satisfies members expectations.

What we have been able to achieve so far;

Improvements

1	Scope – Driver Trainers now included in the agreement
2	Job Security – Restriction on Labour Hire. Permanent full-time employment to be predominant form of employment
3	New Job-Sharing Provision
4	New Transparency provisions around Recruitment and appointments
5	Permanent Part Time Employees – Now paid Overtime after 30 hours a week. (Currently its paid after 76 hours a fortnight)
6	Clarity around Permanent Transfers. Payment for moving costs improved.
7	Improvements to Temporary Transfer -Minimum shifts on TT reduced to 4, Short Term Contract clause removed
8	Improved Discipline clause – Now 7 days to respond to formal letters and better access to representations.
9	Improvements to Maintain Competency clause (Now an independent clause)

10	Improvements to Stand down clause – Restriction for ARTC Shutdowns
11	Salary Maintenance – Increased to 12 months
12	HSR’s mandated to 1 per 50 employees
13	New Provision for Change to Working Arrangements
14	Improvements to Flexibility clause to reflect legislation
15	Medical Assessments RSW – ORA now to pay all costs up to determination. Separation of RSW examinations to Personal Medicals.
16	Return to work Medical FWC decision now included in agreement. Improvement to reporting time (now 72 hours)
17	New Fatigue Provision
18	New Family Leave provision – 14 weeks Parental Leave
19	Annual Leave deductions at 7.6 hours for all shifts including transition days as per previous FWC decision.
20	Improvements to the Extra sick leave provision – Wait period reduced from four weeks to two weeks
21	Improvement to Trauma Leave – now defined as separate stand-alone leave
22	New provision for Domestic Violence
23	Improvements to Training Provisions – All training to meet AQF framework, enshrine all training to be paid by company
24	Leave approvals now must be granted or declined within 10 days
25	Meal allowances increased to current ATO amount. All allowances now indexed by agreement increases (not CPI)
26	Day Light Saving Time now paid upon hours worked
27	Annual Increases now to be paid from anniversary date and included in following fortnights pay (not from following fortnight)
28	Improvements to Dispute Resolution process – Tightening of Fair Work Process
29	A new Consultative Mechanism – ERC (Employee Representative Committee) Delegates to meet management every three months
30	IN-CAB Monitoring restricted to any legislative requirement.
31	New provision to restrict the use of electronic monitoring. – Any technologies that record employee’s actions to be consulted.
32	Delegates Leave – four additional paid days leave per year to attend RTBU conferences

33	Barracks – Any new barracks locations must be consulted and must meet minimum standards. Minimum time in barracks increased to 9 hours.
34	New Home Base Provision. New provision to ensure any new base is consulted and meets minimum standards. New satellite sign on point at Carrington. New policy commitment to provide car wash voucher if parking at Carrington
35	Distributive Power provision – If company plan to introduce they must first consult, and a new pay rate will then be negotiated for this task.
36	A commitment in letter form to not introduce Crew Car accommodation.
37	New Roster Provisions. Roster B is proposed for all train crew as per our claim for a block style roster. It is proposed to introduce roster B within three months of certification. Roster A (current terms and conditions) remain for other positions eg Driver Trainers and will be there as a fall back if needed in the future. Roster A = 76 hours 8 sign ons, a fortnight, with existing conditions Roster B = 304 hours over eight weeks. 28 sign ons. (4 on 4 off) Changed Book off Provisions

Concessions

1	Shift Limits – Driver / Non-Route Qualified Driver increased to 12 hours
2	Shutdowns – Formalise current shift change arrangements for training.
3	Shift Cancellation – New provision of 30 minutes leeway if a shift extends and impacts availability. (Does not apply if the shift that impacted the availability was a shift breach)

Until in principle agreement is reached, the details outlined above may change. Any changes will be communicated to members, who will have the final say. Once in principle agreement is reached, there will be a considerable amount of drafting required.

Members will be advised of ORA’s response once it is received. In the interim please speak to one of your EA delegates directly should you have any questions.