Member Update: 21 July 2023

Dear Members, 

We hope you've been well throughout this week.

Since this Thursday morning (20 July), QUBE Management (the national rail freight company the Union deals with) locked out its own workforce. We've included an update for members as we find that in times like this solidarity is crucial. In the article below, we've got further detail on this with a bulletin for members to download. We stand united with our QUBE members across NSW as they demand fair treatment and better working conditions.

In other news, out in Region 7, Busways is refusing to budge when it comes to a 2-tier workplace. At the moment, the Union is trying to arrange a high level meeting between ourselves, TfNSW, and the Transport Minister's office. Members should also note an application for protected action was lodged today. For more on this, members can download the Region 7 bulletin down below.

In addition to this, the Log of Claims for the Transdev EA is almost finalised. Once that process is complete, we are due to sit down with the company to work through issues. Read all about it down below. 

And finally, out in Region 8 Keolis Downer Northern Beaches seems to find new ways to constantly mishandle matters. Despite the Union's insistence on conducting an audit to address the problem, the company still can't seem to pay members correctly. For the full update, see the article below.

As always, we hope you have a safe week ahead. Don't hesitate to contact us with any concern or issue!

QUBE Lockout

QUBE are a national rail freight company that the RTBU deals with. Since 0001 Thursday morning (20 July), QUBE Management has locked it's own workforce. QUBE Members across NSW are now striking in support support of a new enterprise agreement and wage claim. 

QUBE workers have been attempting to negotiate a fair enterprise agreement for workers for over 12 months, however the company has refused to negotiate fairly, including reneging on in-principal deal reached in conciliation.

 You can show your support for members by sending a message to the NSW Locomotive Division by email at nswloco@rtbu-nsw.asn.au, or on the RTBU National Facebook page.

Region 7 Update

A post was made this week by senior management on Blink (company Facebook) which sought to quietly portray the company as benevolent and caring, as well as completely misrepresenting the industrial facts about upcoming pay rises

The RTBU issued a response bulletin to members you can read here.

Busways has so far refused to move from its position of supporting a 2-tier workplace. The RTBU will not be supporting a sell out of our newer members in order to preserve a status quo for some employees.

The RTBU is trying to arrange a high-level meeting between ourselves, the company, TfNSW and the Transport Ministers office.

The region 6 EA may have been voted up but we are not having a repeat of that years long scenario.

No one will be worse off and no one will be left behind. 

An application for protected action was submitted today by the RTBU.

Transdev EA Update

The Log of Claims is almost finalised; losing our industrial officer has unfortunately slowed that process but we have given the company a commitment that they will have it by Monday next week.

Once they have our Log of Claims, they will present us their LoC (assuming they have one).

After that we’re sitting down with bargaining reps and the company to work through the issues.

The company has made it clear they want to hammer through things quickly so we should see results fairly quickly

Region 8 Update

Keolis Downer Northern Beaches just can’t seem to get things right. Members are still dealing with pay issues, and now the company has come up with new ways to screw things up.

While the audit was conducted at the insistence of the RTBU after members voted to pursue that course of action, it was the company that couldn’t (and still can’t it seems) manage to pay people right.

Now the company is saying that they won’t provide journals to workers who ask for them, so that individuals can check that the audit has been done right. Are we supposed to just take it on faith that they suddenly worked out how to count?

Let’s be clear, your journal is legally your heavy vehicle work diary. It is also where the D.O. marks down any adjustment to your work. In our opinion, workers are absolutely within their rights to ask for this documentation when the company seeks to meet with you about any overpayments. We’ve already had cases where the audit results do not tally with the work that someone can prove they did.

There’s also the issue of tax and the company is seeking repayment of the gross amount. They are seeking to reclaim what was deducted in tax from the workers themselves who never had that money in their pockets. The RTBU has demanded the company provide a legal basis for this and we’re still waiting.

It remains our firm position that where proven, the company has a right to seek to reclaim overpayments. However, each worker must be given the opportunity to double check the figures and not be out of pocket by having to resubmit an adjusted tax return if they use a 3^rd party.

It’s almost as if no one at KDNB actually planned how to approach this process while the audit was being done

In solidarity, 

David Babineau and Peter Grech