Member Update: October 14 2022

Dear Members,

On Friday, September 30 2022, we tragically lost a valued friend in Jared Church. At the age of 37, Jared had been a team member of the Hamilton Depot for over ten years. The union has set up a Go Fund Me page for his family - you can find details below.

Our thoughts go out to all of Jared's workmates as well as his family and friends.

In other news, today it was revealed that the NSW Government was warned two years in advance that the inner west trams were suffering defects. They knew the risks, but instead of acting on this information, they ordered more overseas-made trams. It's disgraceful but unsurprising.

The lack of government action didn't just have an impact on drivers, but also caused absolute mayhem for commuters in the area for many months. It's another case of the NSW Government's incompetence when it comes to our public transport system.

And on that note, a reminder to members that we've set up an email action to push the NSW Government to adopt recommendations on Bus Privatisation. The more emails sent, the better the chance we have of making them listen. So please take the time to send an email via the link in the article below. Please share it with as many people as possible!

In Region 6, officials attended meetings at Tempe and Leichhardt depots to speak to members about the potential of amalgamating rosters into one. You can read more about it below.

And in the Hunter, after the union reached out to Keolis Downer last week, the first EA meeting is planned to be held late October/early November to replace the existing Enterprise Agreements that cover the Wickham Tram Depot.

We trust you'll enjoy this edition of Tram and Bus Express and as always, if you have any questions, ideas or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to your local delegate or to the Tram and Bus Division office directly.

Remembering Jared Church

On Friday, September 30 2022, we lost Jared Church, a valued friend and team member of Hamilton Depot. Jared was only 37 years old and had been a member for over 10 years. He was well-liked and respected, and in the 10 years he had been here, he had never been in to see the union about any problems.

He leaves behind his wife Rebecca and his three children. His funeral and wake were held on Tuesday, October 11th 2022. Robert Matthews and Robert Macfarlane represented the RTBU in honouring Jared at his wake.

For those of you who are interested in helping Rebecca financially, we have organised a Go Fund Me page. Please click on this link to go to that page.

Members, please remember that if you are struggling, support is always available. You can access support resources through the Black Dog Institute. Additionally, 24/7 support is available at Beyond Blue.

NSW Government was aware of tram defects years before shutdown

Internal documents from NSW Government have shown that the Government was well aware that the inner west trams were suffering defects. However, despite these revelations, the Government failed to take any action to fix the problem.

The revelations are an absolute disgrace. Workers and commuters were forced to suffer due to the NSW Government's failure to act.

This was avoidable, and ample solutions were available to the Government. But we are all well aware of this Government's incompetence and fixation with privatising transport in NSW. Privatisation has never worked - and the sooner the Government stops playing political games, the sooner our chance of fixing transport systems in NSW for good.

You can see the media release we put out about the issue here.

Email the NSW Government to end Bus Privatisation

Last month, the NSW Legislative Assembly handed down a report recommending the Government end bus privatisation.

You can read the full report and its recommendation here.

We've known that bus privatisation doesn't work. No one knows this better than our members and commuters who have both suffered.

That's why we've set up an action calling on the NSW Government to adopt the report's recommendations. You can add your name to our letter and help add pressure on the NSW Government to fix the mess they've made.

It'll only take a moment and the more emails we send, the greater our chance of making bus privatisation an issue for the election and beyond.

Pyrmont Depot Member BBQ: Monday 17 October

All members are invited to join us on Monday 17 October for the Pyrmont Depot Member BBQ.

Head along and join the RTBU and Wage Cover teams for a BBQ and a chat between 12pm and 4pm.

Come along, have a snag and have a chat about issues of importance to you in your workplace. We'd love to see you there!

Click here to download the flyer.

Region 6 EA Update

Officials attended depot meetings this week at Tempe and Leichhardt to get a feeling for what members think about the concept of creating three patterns of work.

The discussion focused around plans to have the current two tiered roster system created by Transit Systems amalgamated back into one set of rosters for all members to then have a choice.

This comes after a combined RTBU/TWU caucus last week, where a proposal was endorsed by delegates. This has now been put to members for feedback. The union is not in the business of telling workers what to do; it’s up to you to provide feedback and tell us what to fight for.

The combining of two sets of conditions and hours of work is a complex task. Before we look at plugging in things like penalties, annual leave or ADO's, we have to settle on the pattern of work. There are currently two patterns of work, one for each workgroup (one being the ex-legacy workgroup and the other being #900 drivers).

We are working on a possible solution to increase this to 3 patterns of work and allow members to decide which pattern they want to do. Switching to this claim provides us with a solution to some of the biggest issues we face in resolving the negotiations.

This could potentially be done by introducing a 4/6 roster in between the 5/6 legacy and 4/5 #900 driver patterns of work. This would give workers better flexibility and choice about how to structure their work to fit in with their lifestyle and financial responsibilities.

Wickham Trams EA Update

The union reached out to Keolis Downer Hunter last week to begin negotiations to replace the existing Enterprise Agreement and the first meeting is planned to be held late October/early November. We will keep members posted through bulletins as we go through the negotiations.

In the meantime here is a reminder of the broad log of claims.

1. Keep all current entitlements and conditions in current EA

2. Seek real pay increase to reflect a living wage

3. Enhance flexibility within rosters to accomodate work/ life balance

4. Provision for KDH to reimburse medical costs for members associated with maintaining their employment

5. To include a consultation clause so members can have input into structural, policy and other changes Keolis Downer Hunter make that affect working conditions

6. To update the provisions of the enterprise agreement according to any changes in legislation

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to your local delegate or the Tram and Bus Division office.

Union Elections Reminder

A reminder to members that union elections for National and NSW Branch positions for 2022 are fast approaching. All members are encouraged to cast a vote - this is the best way to make sure the future representatives have the best interests of members at heart. Casting a vote during the Union elections is an incredibly important part of strengthening the democratic process of our union.

The Attendance Ballot will open on the 17th November 2022 at 7:00am and close on the 17th November at 4:30pm.

The Postal Ballot closes on 12 December 2022, 5:00pm.

We urge all members to use their voices by voting in the upcoming elections.

In solidarity,

David Babineau and Daniel Jaggers