Bargaining Update – Correcting Government Mistruths

Dear members,

Over the past week and half, there has been a lot of media reporting about where bargaining is at. Most of it is wrong.

Unfortunately, it seems that many media outlets are simply getting lines from the Government and running with them as if they’re fact. The below is what is actually happening.

The Deed

Back at the end of June, we sat down with officials in Transport for NSW and negotiated the terms of a deed that would guarantee the changes to the NIF that would ensure that it is operated safely, using the same operating model as the Waratah.

We got to the point where both sides agreed to the terms, and we went to a meeting to sign the deed. However on that day, the Secretary of Transport advised us that the Government had instructed him not to sign it.

Since then, there has been more backflips by Minister Tudehope and his Government. First he wanted the changes to the NIF to be contingent on all Sydney Trains and NSW Trains workers (not just RTBU members) accepting the Government’s wages cap. Second they wanted the deed to only exist until the first vote for the agreement, and if the agreement was voted down by members, it would die. Third he wanted the unions to agree to not take any industrial action ever again during this bargaining campaign.

Now, the Government is out in the media telling everyone that it has produced a new deed that we will not agree to. This is a lie. There is no new deed that has been provided to us.

Reasons for action

Minister Tudehope continues to run an utterly bizarre line that he doesn’t understand why we are still taking action.

We still have a number of outstanding claims yet to be resolved by Government:

1. Cleaning Claims including the new allowance for higher standard cleaning and guaranteeing cleaning work on the NIF and the New Regional Fleet (rather than outsourcing it to private cleaning companies).
2. Infrastructure Claims including bringing Protection Officers in-house under their own classification, paying Infrastructure Workers an allowance for performing protection work, and increasing the upper cap limit for IW streams to allow for competency-based pay increases.
3. The NIF safety alterations – see above as these are not yet sorted in any way shape or form.
4. Pay and Back Pay – this is yet to be subject to any sort of substantive discussion and the Government insists that it will only go as high as their wages policy (2.5%, 3%, and 2%).

These are the reasons we continue to take industrial action.

Meetings this week

There have been some meetings this week with Senior Transport Officials to work through some of the claims that were backflipped on over the past few weeks. Thankfully there has been a rethink about many of these claims and most have now been reinstated. The only outstanding backflip is in relation to the commitment made by the Transport Minister back

in February around union representatives being involved in each and every risk assessment on major rolling stock or infrastructure projects.

This morning at 11am, we have a meeting with the Transport Minister to try and resolve that issue, as well as the deed. We are hopeful that the Government will see sense rather than continue its unproductive and harmful rhetoric that it’s been pursuing in the media.

Then on Thursday, we have further bargaining.

We will do our best to keep everyone up to date as this process rapidly develops.

In Unity,
RTBU NSW

Issued & authorised by Alex Claassens, Secretary, Rail, Tram and Bus Union – NSW Branch
Level 4, 321 Pitt Street,
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 92642511
nswho@rtbu-nsw.asn.au
www.rtbu-nsw.asn.au

31 August 2022

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