A.R.G.E. EBA RTBU News Bulletin No. 9

FURTHER PROGRESS CONTINUES.......

The RTBU Negotiating Team met again with ARGE representatives on 25 and 26 August. Significant progress is being made on several fronts. ARGE has responded to the detailed log of claims presented by the RTBU on 23 July. They confirmed that the 4% per year increase over 3 years would apply to all streams, Per Way, Signal and Communications, Terminals/Depots and Locomotive Operations. The rates of pay for streams will include provision for relevant allowances eg shift work, telephone, tools etc.

Employer Presents Wages Offer For Locomotive Drivers

Locomotive Drivers are undergoing the most dramatic changes faced in their working lives, the move to Driver Only Operations: major OSH and productivity issues are involved. The RTBU claim is in two parts; an immediate up front payment of $3000 because of the productivity savings gained by ARGE for bringing locomotive drivers together and ending dual rosters, different shift lengths, allocation of work etc.

The second part of our claim is for the D.O.O. allowance to be increased to 18% of the aggregate salary. 9% would be included in the salary with the additional 9% changed from an incidence based allowance to being included in the salary when the proportion of D.O.O. working in a depot exceeds 50% of total working.

ARGE'S RESPONSE TO THE UNION'S CLAIM IS IN THREE PARTS.

1. AWA rate ($54,354) plus three 4% increases (Dec. 2003, Jan, 2005 and Jan 2006).
   
2. An across the board increase for all locomotive drivers of 3% from June 2004 for D.O.O. productivity increases.
   
3. Depot Based D.O.O. Achievement payments.

Depot DOO Achievement Payments:

The additional payments are not cumulative, would be part of total salary and paid for all purposes.

OTHER COMPONENTS OF THE PAY SYSTEM FOR DRIVERS

RTBU Response

The RTBU Negotiating Team analysed the ARGE proposal and based on recent extensive state wide consultation with members indicated:

1. The first pay movement was inadequate for two reasons. Firstly, it did not take into account the tremendous productivity savings to be made by ARGE when all locomotive operators work on the same roster under the same conditions. Locomotive Operators on new AWAs are due a 3% wage increase from 1/1/04. A further 1% falls short of a fair sharing of the productivity gains between workers and ARGE. Secondly ARGE rates are low by comparison with other national rail companies. ARGE is rapidly moving to establish itself as a national rail company. Being at the bottom of the industry pile is unacceptable.
   

2. The inclusion of weekend penalties in an all up salary is a controversial issue. Working on weekends varies considerably between depots. An analysis over three years shows that the average hours worked at the weekend can vary between depots from 3 to 10 hours or $2000 to $5000 per annum. Getting paid for the hours worked on the weekend is an issue.
   

   Members have expressed an overall preference for weekend payments to be paid on an individual, stand-alone basis. A negative is that an all up salary for other payments eg superannuation is lessened.
   

3. The acceleration of D.O.O. working in ARGE in the coming period warrants another review. As the third DOO Achievement Payment is based on 65% of work at the depot, it is unlikely the target would be achieved during the course of a 3-year EBA. Therefore the 25% and 45% milestones should be increased by a futher 1% respectively.

Improvements in Other Conditions for all ARGE EBA Employees

Public Holidays: The minimum number of holidays under Federal awards is 11. ARGE have agreed to include Easter Saturday as an extra public holiday for employees who have their ordinary hours of work arranged over the seven days of the week.

Parental Leave

Paternity Leave: A maximum of 52 weeks leave of which one week shall be paid and the balance of the leave to be either debited to other accrued leave entitlements or leave without pay.

Maternity Leave: A maximum of 52 weeks leave of which the first 12 weeks shall be paid maternity leave and the balance of the leave to be either debited to other accrued leave entitlements or leave without pay.

Family Leave:Up to five days paid family leave per year, deducted from the employees accrued sick leave entitlement.

EBA Coverage: The RTBU and ARGE have sharp differences about Train Controllers and Driver Co-ordinators being covered by the EBA. ARGE argue they are part of the management team.

They are promotional positions and will be subject to rapid changes in the workplace. The RTBU maintain each have the right to basic protections and EBA coverage.

LOCOMOTIVE OPERATIONS ROSTERING PRINCIPLES:

ARGE has responded in detail to the RTBU's Draft Proposals. There remain crucial differences between the parties. The family and social lives of our members are crucial. The balance between work and family life has swung too much in the employer's favour.

Forrestfield S170LK Workers:

The second day of negotiations was held in the training room at Forrestfield. This allowed the RTBU and ARGE to address two meetings of employees affected by the S170LK Agreement. The progress of the appeal, the superior outcomes the EBA will deliver, the opportunity and mechanisms for workers to be covered by the EBA were explained and questions answered.