Member Update: December 9 2022

Dear Members,

It's been another big week in the Tram and Bus lanes.

Our apologies to members for postponing last week's edition, and a big thank you for your patience. While it is the end of the year, the work never really does stop for everyone. We've been working hard to deliver outcomes ahead of the year's conclusion - and our wins of the year are all thanks to the hard work put in by all our members. 

To start off, the union held initial discussions with Transdev Sydney in regard to their interpretation of the EA for the inner west light rail. The union is scheduled to kick off formal discussions on this matter next year.

In addition, the RTBU and the ETU have endorsed the CMET EA proposal, which is now in its access period. You can read about some of the items achieved below, along with further details. We've also attached the CMET bulletin for members.

In other news, Transit Systems is expected to put out a document to be reviewed by employees next week, with a vote to follow the access period. A meeting is scheduled with all bargaining reps to meet with the company next Monday. 

We trust you're staying safe and well. And as always, if you have any questions or queries, don't hesitate to contact your local delegate or the Tram and Bus Division office directly.

Inner west light rail enterprise agreement

The union has held initial discussions with Transdev Sydney with regard to their interpretation of the EA for the inner west light rail and the applicable pay rates/pay increase for November 2022. The union is scheduled for formal discussions on this matter in the new year and will keep members advised on any outcomes.

The union through the EA negotiations with Transdev and discussion with the members had agreed upon the pay table that was inserted into the EA – Transdev Sydney should never have inserted a 3 % pay increase for November 2022, and the Union believes that because this is Transdev’s own document, that this 3% should now be applied to the November 2021 pay rates.

CMET Update

After a relatively short negotiation period, the RTBU and the ETU have formally declared support for the CMET EA proposal which is in its access period now.

Some of the items that were achieved include-

• 4% (backpaid to July 1^st 2022), 3% (paid July 1^st 2023), 2% (paid July 1^st 2024) pay rises
• Increase of over $1 per grade for both Drivers and CSO/AOs separate to pay rises
• Creation of new senior grade for both Drivers and CSO/AOs so senior workers can progress and earn more
• Indexing most allowances to the pay rise percentages
• Prohibition on live monitoring of staff via CCTV cameras
• Extra 10 min break for CSO/AOs to be taken at their convenience
• Doubled mentor allowance and it is now payable on paperwork

As well as quite a few back-end changes to language that will help how workers are treated.

The difficulty with this negotiation was quite frankly, the lack of engagement by the workforce. While it’s understandable given that CMET was caught in the crossfire of the RTBU-TWU demarcation dispute, regardless of the reason if workers are not a part of the Union and willing to fight, there is a limit to what can be achieved. This Agreement is scheduled to expire before the planned expansion to the network takes place and is a good step in the right direction. Hopefully in the interim we can organise and the workers CMET understand how much more we could have achieved with a stronger member base.

Region 6 EA Update

Transit Systems is expected to put out a document for employees to review next week, with a vote to follow the access period before Christmas. A meeting is scheduled for Monday for all bargaining reps to meet with the company where we expect to be shown the proposed Agreement.

Our recent member poll gave us a clear direction; while members do want to see the two rosters put together, the price the company demands is too high.

Broken shifts beyond 12 hours and the spread and rate of broken shift penalties remain the biggest concern for RTBU members, and accordingly the Union will not support any proposal that does not meet those concerns.

While the TWU has a duty to its members to inform them that this proposal leaves them better off (because it does), they are NOT endorsing the deal. Instead, they are staying neutral and letting their members vote without any direction from them.

The RTBU on the other hand has clear direction from its members and that is to keep fighting for Same Job, Same Pay with the Copied State Award as the standard.

Accordingly, the RTBU strongly encourages members to VOTE NO to any deal proposed that does not meet our demands.

If the meeting on Monday goes as expected, a bulletin to Region 6 RTBU members will immediately follow.

As long as members want to fight, the Union will lead that fight.

In solidarity, 

David Babineau and Daniel Jaggers