SA Rail Workers, Families demand safety changes

Railworkers Global Day of Action for Rail Safety.

Rail workers and their families are holding a rally in Adelaide today to demand that the South Australian government urgently tighten rail safety laws to save lives. They are gathering outside the office of the Transport Minister, Trish White, at 11.30 am, opposite Adelaide Railway Station. This is part of a global day of action for rail safety.

The event includes a poignant plea from Darryn Petry, who lost his father Karl in a rail accident on a lonely stretch of track north of Port Augusta last September.

"Nothing can bring my father back. But action now may be able to spare other families the pain and suffering we've endured," Mr Petry said. "My family also wants, in fact needs some answers, so that we can begin to come to terms with what happened, and get on with our lives.

In a high pressure effort to create a national rail safety regime, the National Transport Commission is now concluding a consultation process and drafting legislation that may be voted on by the Commission in September. The Karl Petry death and the loss of legs by an Adelaide shunter last month have painfully exposed South Australia for having among the weakest, most ineffective and low-resourced rail safety regulators in the country.

RTBU South Australian / NT secretary Ray Hancox said there is no convincing reason why the state government should delay changes. He has invited Transport Minister Trish White to address the rally. "We need a complete overhaul of rail safety laws and real resources for a real rail safety regulator, to both tighten safety standards so that companies don't continue to put workers at risk, and to ensure that any incidents are independently investigated and where appropriate, prosecuted," said Ray Hancox.

"South Australia has often been a leader for progressive change in Australia, and it has to do this now on rail safety".

The Karl Petry campaign has been a national focus for the Rail Tram & Bus Union. "We want action now in South Australia, because we can't wait any longer, and to help ensure that there is a breakthrough for a real rail safety system in Australia's railways at the National Transport Commission," RTBU National Secretary Bob Hayden said.

March 7 is a day of global action on rail safety by the International Transport Workers Federation, to which the RTBU is affiliated. RTBU members also took action today in Sydney and Melbourne.

The RTBU is demanding that rail employers recruit and train more workers; have proper staffing levels and eliminate violence against rail workers; a nation-wide compatible train radio system; measures to increase community and railway worker safety at level crossings; effective national rail safety legislation; and a trained Occupational Health & Safety Representative in every workplace.