Member Update: 16 June 2023

Dear Members, 

It’s been a volatile week for the RTBU nationally and for the NSW Tram & Bus division in particular. A National Executive meeting was held this week and 3 important matters were voted on.

1.     The National Executive voted to buy a Registered Training Organisation (RTO). This will allow the union to deliver training in the rail industry in particular to ensure a higher standard of training, push membership of the union to new members, and make a profit that will return to the RTBU to fund more initiatives for the benefit of our members. The plan is to grow this RTO to be a national organisation specifically delivering training to the areas of transport that our members work in.

2.     The National Executive voted to sell the Redfern property the division currently occupies. This was because there have been several offers to buy that are significantly above what the property is worth. The decision was made to help fund the purchase of the RTO. As part of this resolution, the Tram & Bus division will be given some of the proceeds of the sale to fund a relocation. The Redfern property has been the home of the Tram & Bus division for over 30 years and the division strongly opposed this resolution.

3.     The property at Gordon Ave in Hamilton, Newcastle is to be sold in the next 12 months. This property has suffered from leaks and various issues for many years. There is reoccurring black mould that makes it unsafe for employees of the union to work there and the decision was made to sell and relocate. The Branch is looking to find a new location as close as possible to the old building. The divisions predecessor union, the Australian Tram & Motor Omnibus Employee Association (AT&MOEA) bought this property in the 1950’s and it became property of the RTBU Nationally at amalgamation.

As a result of the above, the division is looking for a new home. We will be considering all options, including purchasing a property of our own as well as moving into level 3 at Pitt St where the rest of the NSW RTBU is located.

Bus Taskforce update

The RTBU continues to push the agenda of our members in the NSW Bus Taskforce. We have been told that Opal cards will be coming- but still no timeframe or firm decision on WHO will get them. Just the ex-STA Sydney regions? All of Sydney bus drivers? Only ex-STA including Newcastle? We’re obviously arguing that all drivers should get them but at the very least we want the ex-Government areas in NSW to be provided for. One thing is certain- that while there are no plans to scrap the Gold Pass for workers who have earned them, there are also no plans to bring back the entitlement.

An event happening next week is a Bus Industry Roundtable meeting of Unions, company reps, commuter groups, government, and other stakeholders. The plan is for some ideas to come out of everyone’s experience particularly around network design and fixing the driver shortage. We’ve obviously got some strong views on both of those things.

Finally, it looks like there will be no assistance from TfNSW in Region 6. In a way getting as close to an agreement as we now are, has worked against us and TfNSW have decided to let the EA negotiation process run its course. We are absolutely demanding that the government direct TfNSW to weigh in and fix Region 7. Busways has point blank refused to entertain anything that costs them to put the two-tiered workforce back together.

Wickham Trams EA Update

For our Newcastle tram operators, we are awaiting Keolis Downer Hunter Trams to provide us with a document.

As was previously reported, the RTBU Tram and Bus Division have had some movement in these discussions such as the 38hr week being averaged over 8 weeks. The company has agreed to reduce this to average over 2 weeks. This has been verbally agreed to and we are pushing to get this reduced even further.

We have also asked the company to extend the times of the 15% after hours allowance. The company has also verbally agreed to give some sort of procedure on allocation of overtime.

We are hoping that KDH Trams correspond regarding a solid document next week.       

Region 7 Update

Busways and the RTBU are continuing to pause negotiations having reached an impasse. They won’t bring the conditions of all employees up to the level of the ex-STA workers, and we won’t accept a two-tiered workplace.

We continue to lobby the government and TfNSW to shift gears and fix this sooner rather than later. Especially after unions were left holding the bag in Region 6 which has taken years to finally look like an end is in sight, TfNSW needs to take some responsibility for the workplace injustice they allowed to happen.

We’ve nearly finished the application for protected action which means that we’re on the road to legal industrial action. Hopefully this pushes things along.

We’ve also had reports of the managing Director of the Busways Group Mr. Byron Rowe saying we can have a pay rise when a new EA is done. While he’s very wrong on that, it shows that human consideration is not a currency this company understands. It’s up to workers to demonstrate that it’s not an option to ignore us.

In the lead up to a ballot on protected action please see your delegate and update your membership details- we need your current email and mobile number and filling out a Change of Details form is a quick and easy way to make sure your details are right and that you can have your say.

Region 6 Update

The RTBU Tram and Bus Division has received an almost final document from Transit System, which has been sent to your local region 6 delegates for review. It included some last minute adjustments that were favourable to members, although management is still seeking company approval for the pay package so there is no schedule/ rates of pay to look over. We expect that information to come next week.

After years of struggle, we believe this enterprise bargaining document is as close as we can get to the Copied State Award for everyone and put the rosters back together. We’ll be holding depot meetings over the next few weeks to discuss what’s in there and what’s not.

We’ll wait and see what money is being offered, and then we hope to be able to endorse the Agreement and take it to members.

Transdev Update

After collating the Log of Claims survey results, we now have a member driven list of what to pursue in negotiations. Expect that list to come to you for endorsement next week.

From that point we can get things moving and start sitting down with the company to pursue the issues you have told us are most important to workers.

Next week will see depot visits by officials to answer questions about the EA process generally.

In solidarity, 

David Babineau and Peter Grech