Bryan Evans
Organiser

The first EA for 2019 has been finalised with Laing O’Rourke varying their Enterprise Agreement and bringing it in-line with industry standards. The Greenfields agreement that is currently in place although offering solid wages and conditions, lacked some of the fundamental rail conditions such as extended hours provisions and rostering protection that gives members control over their own work-life balance. The agreement was unanimously endorsed by members at a meeting held at E-Gate on Wednesday the 30 January and once ratified by the FWC, will be an agreement that members can be proud of.

Laing O’Rourke will now join John Hollands having signed 2018/2019 agreements. Downer Infrastructure will be commencing shortly and the Coleman Rail agreement is up for re negotiation in August this year, placing RTBU members in a good position to achieve a level of standardisation amongst tier 1 contractors that has been frustratingly absent for some time.

All rail workers across Victoria deserve the same set of fundamental wages and conditions no matter where in the industry they work, and we are one step closer to achieving that goal.

This year will be action packed with a number of EAs expiring in the Infrastructure, Rollingstock, Labour Hire and Workshops Division. If you have any queries or questions, feel free to call me on 0457 006 739

Joe Maisano
Organiser

There have been many complaints come forward to the Union office recently from the Signalling and Train Control grades. The main issue is around multiple job vacancies not being filled swiftly and having been left open for a length of months. Some job roles are not being advertised at all, which is causing further complaints that the role is not covered properly for a period of time. Coverage is being done ad-hoc and some days there is no coverage at all.    

The Dandenong signal box cribb break roster set up for the Westall Panel expansion covers weekdays only and Signallers are asking for the same coverage as Newport and Craigieburn Signal Boxes which is Saturday rostering coverage. Feedback from Metro is that it won’t be happening anytime soon.  

With the introduction of Pakenham, the workload at Dandenong signal box has increased dramatically to the point where the signallers are now asking for a cribb break roster seven days a week and will be still waiting.

Other concerns raised is that there is preference on who gets the overtime over others. Some people may feel obligated to do the overtime so they don’t let their co-workers or Metro down which is causing fatigue.

Training has commenced for Train Controllers and Signallers to fill the vacant roles, but it does take time to train the Train Controllers to progress to a higher classification level and the same for the Signallers learning the new super Signal Boxes.

In passing conversations I have heard that safeworking errors are also occurring, this is due to the incumbent being inexperienced. You cannot gain railway knowledge without doing the mile.

I have raised these concerns with management and I hope to see these issues resolved as soon as possible, however currently it is simply a waiting game for the people in training to be qualified enough to assist.

Luba Grigorovitch 
Branch Secretary

Once again, International Women’s Day is upon us and I’m sure in 2019 it will be just as festive and action packed as previous years!

The week of International Women’s Day will begin with a Feminist Movie Night screening on Tuesday 5 March. All members are invited to the movie night.

The cost of the movie night is a $10 door entry fee that includes dinner, a beanbag to watch the movie from, popcorn and choc tops and is shared with our sisters from the CFMEU, ETU & MUA. For anyone interested in attending, contact Hannah Scott on 0448 569 178 or hannah.scott@rtbuvic.com.au

I am also proud to announce that for the ninth year in a row our RTBU International Women’s Day Conference will once again be held.

Each year, the conference brings together women and men from across the public transport industry to celebrate the impact women have had by organising in our industry.  

Members from all Divisions of the RTBU are invited to join the festivities and attend the conference. This year, the conference is being held on Thursday 7 March at the RTBU Head Office and runs from 10:00am – 2:00pm. It provides opportunity for members to discuss industry wide issues.

The conference is a great opportunity for members from all across Rail and Tram to come together and celebrate some great achievements in the movement. In male dominated industries such as ours, women’s voices are often lost. This is why RTBU Women encourages all women to be more active and find your voice and speak out.

At the conference, there will be a CEO panel with the CEOs of all of our major operators (Metro, V/Line, Yarra Trams & PTV) in attendance. The CEO panel includes question time with the CEOs and is a great opportunity for RTBU Women to raise issues with their CEO directly.

The agenda for the day also includes a workshop from the Victorian Trades Hall Council We are Union Women (WAUW) team on confidence building and networking which I am sure will be a great workshop for RTBU women.

Similar to previous years, we have a commitment from Metro, V/Line and Yarra Trams that all women who are interested in attending will be offered the opportunity to be booked off pending operational requirements.

If you wish to attend the conference, please email Hannah Scott at women@rtbuvic.com.au ASAP so your release can be requested by the company.

International Women’s Day (IWD) this year falls on Friday 8 March 2019. It is celebrated annually and recognises the achievements of women in the union movement and across the world. Women over many decades and centuries have fought long and hard for the conditions which we have today, however the fight is never over.

As part of International Women’s Day, the RTBU will march in the IWD rally. I would like to encourage all members to join us on Friday 8 March.

Any members wishing to walk in the rally are asked to meet at the RTBU Office at 5pm.

Please take this opportunity to get involved in the festivities of IWD. I look forward to seeing you at some of the events.

Bryan Evans
Organiser

This week, V/Line Infrastructure Delegates from across the state met to formulate and endorse our 2019 EA bargaining round log of claims for the V/Line Infrastructure agreement.

Signals and communications (S&C) and track were both equally represented with representatives from day and night shifts. Also present were the old guards who have fought for RTBU members since the days of the PTC winning the battles that established the conditions we enjoy today.

We have also brought in some new blood to the table, bringing fresh ideas who will fight the battles and establish the conditions members will enjoy tomorrow and in the future.

The collaboration between grades, the warhorses and the new blood was truly remarkable, and I can say with certainty that the 2019 V/Line Infrastructure EA campaign will not be one focused on “retaining all our conditions” rather it will be one focused on fighting for new and better conditions. A new and better standard for V/Line Infrastructure members in a rapidly modernising railway.

I look forward to working with you all throughout the year and thrashing it out with the companies to negotiate the best possible EA for RTBU members. As always, please give me a call on 0457 006 739 if there are any issues or anything you would like to discuss.

Joe Dennis
Organiser

Happy new year to everyone, I hope you all had a restful break over Christmas and New Year’s. 2019 will be a huge year with the upcoming Enterprise Agreement (EA) negotiations for the public transport major operators Metro, V/Line, Yarra Trams and many more smaller companies where we have members. Meetings are being planned for members and Delegates to attend so please make every effort to come along and put your ideas on the table when these meetings occur.

So far this year I have been approached by members from NSW Trainlink, who work out of Southern Cross station. These members have had their classifications changed and as a result their pay rates reduced. Many members have been working on a casual basis and are too scared to approach anyone to ask for a more permanent position as they are employed by an agency and  not employed by NSW Trainlink directly.

I am currently in discussions with McArthur and will try and get to the bottom of these issues.

On an unrelated note, I have also received a number of emails and phone calls in relation to the “personal time” that staff have access to at the Probe (PTV) call centre. Staff are being monitored when they step away from their phones for longer than 2 minutes and 40 seconds. Yes, you read that correctly, 2 minutes and 40 seconds.  

Staff members are going to the toilet and managers are alerted to them being away for longer than 2 minutes and 40 seconds and will then go looking for the member. This is causing staff to feel bullied and stressed for simply needing to go to the toilet. Managers feel they are doing nothing wrong and only conducting a “welfare check” but after a couple of minutes, they have got to be joking!

I have also spoken to members at Transclean regarding concern about their Category three medicals that have come up for renewal. Transclean have informed members they are to pay for the medicals (approx. $300 – 400) as it is a condition of their employment, however nothing was given to them and nothing signed relating to payment.

After negotiation, Transclean have come to the table and agreed to pay for the medicals for the staff at Southern Cross. I would say that Transclean will be amending the contracts of employment to include that staff are to pay in the future. Before anyone signs the “new” contract of employment please come and see me.

See you all in 2019.