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Member Update: July 8, 2022
Dear Members,
It's been another week of devastating floods here in NSW, and an understandably large blow to the communities who were still recovering from the floods earlier this year.
For members affected by this extreme, all-too-familiar, weather event or have loved once who are being impacted, we wish you safety and resilience during this time. Besides being your union, the RTBU is also a source of support and solidarity in all types of trying times, and we're here for that if that's something you need.
You can find local information for flood-affected regions on the NSW Government's Flood Map, as well as evacuation and emergency service resources.
The work on your Enterprise Agreement negotiations is ongoing.
In Newcastle, members were advised that the union is awaiting the return of Industrial Officer Lizanne Bennett from medical leave so she can run a critical eye over the proposal before it goes to a vote.
In Region 6, our last meeting took place yesterday, with a focus on the shift modelling provided by the company as we continue working towards a single roster. This meeting focused heavily on figuring out what this needs to look like.
In Region 7, we'll be meeting with Busways on July 15th to continue discussing our sticking points with the proposal and amendments to clauses. As information is still sparse, we will wait until a more solid conclusion can be formed about the direction of the offer before providing a full update to members.
Payroll issues in Region 8 remain a glaring issue. We'll be meeting with KDNB on July 11th to push for them to fund an audit of wages, which members have overwhelmingly agreed to.
Things have been rolling along constructively across all fronts so far.
We hope that you continue to stay safe and well.
CMET Log of Claims
CMET has now complied the Log of Claims for both the RTBU and ETU and we will be negotiating one Agreement.
Note that the ETU is pushing for a separate Agreement covering maintenance staff in the future and we support them in fighting for what their members want.
Members can expect to see a CFMEU organiser in your workplace, who is there to sign up new members, answer queries, and support the local delegate with local knowledge on our behalf now that the Servicing Agreement has been signed.
A bulletin was sent to members outlining to bargaining process which can be read here.
Region 8 Pay Issues
We will be meeting KDNB on July 11th for an update on these ongoing payroll issues and pushing for the company to pay for an audit of wages. This was the direction given to the union by members in the recent online poll.
In the interim, KDNB is in the process of sorting out a ticketing system - which the union has requested - for employees to better track the pay queries and lend some transparency to the process.
A bulletin will be sent to members with an update following the next meeting.
Region 6 EA Update
We met with TSA on Thursday to go over the shift modelling and work towards a clearer picture of how things need to look as we focus on creating a single roster with the same penalties and shift timings.
The shift modelling is the company having the system run through creating work with different guidelines. This includes things like the minimum broken shift break, broken shift length, length of a portion of work, etc. As this is done, it also shows what the impact is on things like how many buses would be needed or saved, addition or reduction to the amount of employees needed and changes to the shift averages. We’re basically gathering information on what our demands are going to cost operationally so we can negotiate properly. One of the problems with the previous company bargaining rep was that none of this information was provided, it was just a ‘NO’ to everything. ‘NO’ needs a reason and explanation.
While this last meeting did not run for a full day, we also discussed headline items including TSA's issues and how we can get around them to preserve the parameters in the Copied State Award. For example the company has said they are unwilling to extend the ADO system or more than 4 weeks annual leave to #900 drivers.
One key issue that has come up is the payrise owed to the #900 drivers. The company has been given this money by the government, and the company has failed to pass it on directly, preferring to use it as a bargaining chip, just like they tried to do with OUR payrise. The TWU has demanded that the company pass this on and the RTBU absolutely backs them up. It should be given to affected workers not just as a gesture of good faith but because it’s the workers’ money, not TSA’s. If the company fails to do so it could lead to further action. We’ll have to wait and see.
Region 7 Bargaining Update
Our next meeting with Busways is scheduled for July 15th.
In the lead-up to this, we're working on the discussing our concerns about the proposal in detail with the company, and are also drafting replacement clauses for some of those in the draft that the union considers too heavy handed, such as the Absence Management Procedure.
Because of the broad nature of these discussions at the moment, we will be waiting until more solid information can be provided. Once we've ironed out the specifics of the proposal and are confident that we're close to an outcome that's up to par with what members want, we will send members a bulletin with a full update and next steps of the process.
As always, members will have the final say on the EA result.
Rail update
There’s bee a lot of publicity about the ongoing Rail EA negotiations, and while they are certainly complex, the government has been playing a lot of games.
For a good explanation of the organised chaos that’s currently affecting about 9000 of our members in the RTBU, you can read this explainer to members here:
In solidarity,
David Babineau and Daniel Jaggers
