Rail Entities Make Renew EA Offer at Combined Rail Unions Delegate Conference

On Tuesday 13^th May the Rail Entities made an offer to the Combined Rail Unions (CRU) delegates’ meeting for replacement Agreement(s) to the existing RailCorp Enterprise Agreement 2010.

The CRU. delegates’ meeting held at Trades Hall auditorium carried the following resolution unanimously:

1. This meeting directs negotiations with the Rail Entities continue on the 14^th May and the 20^th May, to achieve the CRU members’ claims, and draws particular attention to the following matters which are outstanding as a result of the latest offer from the Rail entities:-

(a)  The term of the proposed offer of a new Agreement is unacceptable. The CRU claim remains four years from 31^st March 2014

(b)  The proposal to delete the terms of Clause 47 from any replacement Agreement is unacceptable.

2. These views are to be conveyed to the Rail entities at the meeting to be held tomorrow

3. In the meantime, this meeting directs the CRU negotiators to seek legal advice on all aspects of the proposed Facilitation Clause

4. This CRU delegates’ meeting will be reconvened after the negotiations scheduled in the next two weeks, and no meetings of members will be held until a Report back to the CRU delegates is held in the week beginning 26^th May

5. This meeting of CRU delegates endorses a broad based campaign seeking commuter and community support for the OurTransport Pledge opposing privatisation and supporting safe, reliable and decent commuter rail services, to commence immediately. This meeting requests the support of all members for this campaign

LATEST UPDATE

CRU officials met again this morning (14 May 2014) to outline to the Rail Entities the concerns expressed by the delegates, which include:

• the proposed term of the Agreement (and subsequent pay adjustments)

• the Rail Entities’ claim to delete Clauses 26 and 47 altogether from the replacement Agreement.

The Rail Entities will return on Tuesday, 20 May 2014 with more detailed responses to the concerns raised this morning and further discussions will continue in order to reach agreement on the other outstanding issues.

NEXT STEPS

The CRUs will be seeking our own detailed legal review of the Facilitation Clause proposed by the Rail Entities and discussions on that matter will be held in light of the legal advice received.

In the meantime, it is vital that members circulate the material supporting the Pledge campaign to prevent privatisation, and commit to a safe, clean, accessible transport system, respectful to both commuters and workers. Remember, to take the pledge, you, your friends and family simply log onto www.ourtranpsort.org.au and sign up!