RailTrain: Hunter Ports Services Enterprise Agreement.

The Rail, Tram & Bus Union, Locomotive Division NSW Branch have been in negotiations with Railtrain representatives since May 2019 for a new Enterprise Agreement covering 12 employees in a single classification. Negotiations have been extremely difficult due to the company refusing to meet what we believe are basic standards and conditions.

The RTBU have not tried to price our members out of the market but have attempted to give the members employment security and solid working conditions comparable to most employers within the Rail Industry.

Negotiations were progressing slowly up until Railtrain decided on 13th December 2019 that they had finished their negotiations and decided to take their non-union supported Agreement out to members for a vote. The outcome of the vote was a resounding “NO” with 100% of those who voted rejecting the Company’s inferior proposal, with the vote being declared on 23 December 2019, 2 days prior to Christmas.

Early in 2020, the RTBU Locomotive Division contacted Railtrain to recommence the EA negotiations and after some shuffling of the deck chairs following the Chief Executive Officer & National Human Resources Advisor leaving the Company, a meeting was finally organised and occurred on 6 August 2020. As the Company’s attitude and regressive philosophy had not changed, the RTBU made the difficult decision to withdraw from negotiations as we could not be seen to be endorsing such a basic/sub-standard agreement.

Due to the Company’s proposed Enterprise Agreement containing very basic conditions and protections, an extremely low rate of pay, and the fact that employees have only received an increase of approximately $0.83 cents in the last 5 years that Railtrain have operated in NSW, the Agreement should be named the “Servitude Agreement”!

We have also now been made aware the Railtrain have once again distributed their non-union endorsed Enterprise Agreement as its current negotiated position and are briefing employees next week with the intent of getting the Enterprise Agreement supported by employees without the support of the RTBU Locomotive Division.