On the Campaign Trail Community Continues to Protest Bus Privatisation
The issue of the NSW Government’s bus privatisation has continued to receive massive attention in the media, and broad community support, particularly due to the link to COVID-19 and our push to have passengers wear masks where there are not enough green dots to physically distance. We used this opportunity to also leverage commitments around protecting industrial entitlements in any transition to private operations and a commitment to community consultation about any moves to remove routes or stops.
RAIL & ROAD June 2021
The Union’s focus is now on keeping the government to their commitment of having only 1 employer. This is the root of all the problems our members in Region 6 have been suffering. It gives us a chance to fight back if the company tries to introduce another industrial instrument (and create a two-tiered employment situation like in region 6). When there is more than one company involved, region 6 has shown everyone what to expect. Once we know who has won a region, we will be sitting down to negotiate an Enterprise Agreement. The starting point for this negotiation will be the
new STA Award and we have been telling companies for the last few months that if they want things to go smoothly for them, no major changes will be made at all. We will continue to work with the Our Transport community, in impacted regions to ensure this consultation is genuine and robust. The NSW Government continues to take an axe to our bus network as the privatisation continues, with major changes in Region 7 that came into effect on January 24. Ryde Mayor Jeremy Laxale called for an urgent halt to the changes, with a petition
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