Secretary’s wrap

Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete our recent Sydney Trains reform survey. We had over 350 responses – 69 per cent of which were from drivers.

It’s clear from they survey results that members aren’t buying management’s spin. 83 per cent of those surveyed don’t believe that aggregating allowances will fix the current pay issues and 89 per cent don’t believe they’d be better off with an aggregated system.

Most members also believe they’ll still have to swipe on and off if there is no aggregate payment.

The findings of the survey will be discussed in greater detail when the Loco and Guard Divisions kick off depot tour to discuss the Sydney Trains reform in the coming weeks. Delegates at the most recent meeting about the reforms endorsed a union tour to discuss the situation, so stay tuned for more info on that.

In freight news, we’ve been busy running a number of disputes with companies about the casualisation of our workforce. Currently we’re in dispute with Pacific National over their move to employ a casual workforce (which comes after a big wave of redundancies recently), but PN is unfortunately just an indication of what we’re seeing throughout the industry.

We won’t let these companies attempt to pull the wool over our eyes by claiming that introducing casuals is necessary and that it won’t impact those currently employed, and we’ll continue to fight this move whenever it comes up.

I trust you’ll enjoy this edition of Loco Express. Stay safe on the tracks.

Bob Hayden
Secretary, Loco Division