PN drags its feet on EA negotiations

The RTBU is currently negotiating with four divisions of Pacific National – operational, intermodal train crew, coal and bulk – as the current EAs expire on June 30, 2012.

The negotiations have been going on for a couple of weeks, but the pace is extremely slow as PN laboriously costs everything on the log of claims as a way of finding reasons to avoid paying out any more money.

Many of the clauses in the EA – such as remuneration and rosters – need fine-tuning. The public holiday clause is another issue, as PN prefers drivers to work public holidays with extra pay rather than working the holiday and taking time in lieu, or adding time to holidays later.

The RTBU is working as hard as it can to speed up the process and to conclude the negotiations successfully.