Secretary’s wrap

Bob Hayden, Divisional Secretary

We’ve had recent reports of bullying and intimidation at Aurizon, with members at a number of depots saying they feel management is forcing them to work outside the parameters of the enterprise agreement.

The Loco Division takes all reports of bullying very seriously, and has written to the company to order that they cease any such actions immediately. 

We’ll be following this up and keeping a very close eye on the situation. If you, or one of your workmates, feels bullied, or see bullying in the workplace, please contact the union immediately.

On a much brighter note, the initial result of the first 1500 swab tests conducted as part of Sydney Trains and NSW Trains’ new drug and alcohol testing trial have come in and the results look very positive.

As we expected, the vast majority of members feel more comfortable participating in the swab test than the urine test and the accuracy of the tests is very good.

We are still looking for more detail in the results and are discussing the next stages of the roll-out within the working group set up to deal with the transition from urine testing to swab testing. We’ll keep you posted on what the next steps are.

I trust you’ll enjoy this edition of Loco Express. Your next edition will come in the new look format, so stay tuned for that one.

Stay safe on the tracks,

Bob Hayden
Secretary, Loco Division