New Intercity Fleet Campaign Our campaign for safety on the New Intercity Fleet has continued with NSW Trains and the NSW Government getting increasingly desperate to force the NIF into revenue service. Despite the action of members, a win in the Fair Work Commission, and an independent safety report that clearly states the operating model is not safe, it seems the NSW Government will stop at nothing in trying to force members to crew an unsafe train., Constance has got to be joking On April 1, Transport Minister Andrew Constance told the media the New InterCity Fleet would be in revenue services “in a few weeks.” It must have been an April Fool’s Joke as the NSW Premier and Transport Minister is well aware that no roll-out of the New Intercity Fleet is possible until all safety concerns are resolved with the rail workforce. The Transport Minister then escalated, threatening members at a meeting with Senior RTBU Officials. He told us that he would force Driver Only Operations across BOTH the Sydney and NSW Trains network unless we accepted the New Intercity Fleet into revenue service. He asked us to pass this threat on to members, which we did. Members were understandably shocked that the Government would stoop to this level.
We will not be blackmailed In late April, NSW Trains attempted to blackmail Guards and Drivers and force the NIF into revenue service. They offered a pay increase of 4% to drivers and a sign-on bonus of $2500 for both Guards and Drivers. NSW Trains made this financial offer without taking any steps to address the numerous safety concerns raised by Delegates, HSRs, and the Independent Safety Report. Delegates unanimously rejected this offer, making it very clear to NSW Trains and the NSW Government that safety is always our number one priority. NSW Trains on Tour Following this rejection, management from NSW Trains attempted a Depot Tour trying to convince members that their preferred operating model is safe. The anger from members was palpable as NSW Train Senior Managers tried to convince them to ignore the independent safety report and take their word their proposed model was safe.
RTBU members stood firm and told management precisely what they thought of their games. Legal Action Against Workers Following managements’ failed Depot tour, NSW Trains decided to employ another tactic. At 5.25 pm on May 7 (in the legal world, they call this a five o’clock special), the RTBU received notification that NSW Trains and Transport for NSW are suing their own workers in a desperate attempt to force the unsafe NIF into revenue service. In an unnecessary act of aggression, NSW Trains and the NSW Government are coming after their workforce, who are rightly standing up for safety. They are saying if we refuse to put the community at risk and not crew the NIF on safety grounds, we are taking unlawful industrial action. We will, of course, fight this act of aggression like we have in every step of this campaign by standing together and standing up for safety.
TRAM & BUS EXPRESS
Get on the TRAM & BUS EXPRESS Tram and Bus Express is constantly updated with new information from around the depots – including workplace disputes, industry updates and news about RTBU Members. Members who subscribe to the web site get a fortnightly email with links to all the latest scoops. Printed newsletters will also be distributed around depots.
tramandbusexpress.com.au RAIL & ROAD June 2021
Page 31
