First Female RTBU National President

RTBU appoints first female National President

Hi all. My name is Stephen Grantham. I’m a Principal Guard at NSW TrainLink’s Lithgow Depot. Over the last year or so, I went through an experience that I wouldn’t wish to be repeated for any worker. During 2020, I was the elected Health and Safety Representative for my workgroup. I did my best to raise their health and safety concerns (including their serious concerns relating to the operation of the New Intercity Fleet) so that passengers and workers could rest assured that transport safety risks were being controlled to the lowest reasonably attainable level. Unfortunately, my passion for safety resulted in increased personal scrutiny and strain in my professional life, leading to my sudden suspension from duties in October 2020 and eventual dismissal from NSW TrainLink after 22 years transport service without any disciplinary issues. With the full help of the RTBU and overwhelming support of my workmates, however, I applied to the Fair Work Commission to try to have the dismissal overturned as an unfair dismissal. Following a hearing at the Fair Work Commission, the Commission found that the dismissal in my case was indeed harsh and unreasonable, and therefore unfair, ordering NSW TrainLink to reinstate me to the position I had held prior to dismissal, with restitution of lost pay. The Commission was openly critical of how I had been treated in relation to the dismissal process and its decision was a most welcome relief after the emotionally difficult roller coaster ride of losing my job. It was an especially trying time for my family while the future seemed uncertain. I really want to thank everybody for your support during what was a hugely challenging period for me. I want to thank my workmates from Lithgow and the Blue Mountains who gave me their instant unquestioning support right from the start. I want to thank my intercity colleagues for their ongoing encouragement that helped me through the process. And I want to thank the RTBU and all its members who contribute and provide the opportunity to help individuals like me who find themselves in unfair situations and in need of strong backing while they stand for their rights. One of the most surprising and heartwarming aspects of my experience was when RTBU members I had never previously met would contact me with their good wishes, simply because of our shared industry background and solidarity. I am grateful to you all.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union has appointed Luba Grigorovitch as the Union’s first ever female National President.

A meeting of the Union’s National Executive also appointed former National President Shayne Kummer- feld to the vacant role of Assistant National Secretary, replacing Allan Barden who retired earlier this year. Shayne Kummerfeld is member of the Locomotive Division and a long-standing union activist from the Queensland Branch. Luba has previously made union history by becoming the first female and youngest person to serve as Secretary of the Victorian Branch, a role she has held since 2014. She will continue to hold the Victorian Secretary position. The National President is responsible for leading the union’s national governing bodies – including the National Executive and b-iennial National Council. National Secretary Mark Diamond said Luba Grigorovitch was the perfect fit for the National President position. “Luba is one of our union’s most hardened generals,” Mark said. “She’s dynamic, knows unionism and always holds others to account as much as she does herself. “And it’s about time we had a woman as our President!”

Recent media reports have revealed that design faults in the Spanish built trams operating in Sydney’s Inner West, have resulted in significant cracks being discovered in all 12 trams sets operating on this route, during routine maintenance checks during October.

On November 5, ABC News reported that new Transport Minister Rob Stokes announced that Sydney’s inner-west light rail service will be decommissioned for possibly up to 18 months, while the issues are rectified. The service between Central and Dulwich Hill was suspended on Thursday 4 November, forcing thousands of commuters to use replacement buses. Mr Stokes said it was not known how long it would take to fix the problem. “I want to stress this is the worstcase scenario. It is my expectation that we rectify these issues much sooner than that,” he said. Earlier in the same week, Transport for NSW’s chief operating officer, Howard Collins, said while the cracks had “some longevity” they were not considered a safety risk. However, Mr Stokes said the briefing he received on Friday showed the cracking was more significant than first thought. “The safety advice has been for these vehicles to be withdrawn from service and we are looking at whether a temporary fix might be made,” he said. “My instinct is that we can do everything we can to make sure that fix is permanent.” “It is also important that I offer a profound apology on behalf of the NSW government,” he said. Mr Stokes said the Spanishmanufactured tram model by CAF was used around the world, including in Canberra, Newcastle, Europe and North America. “So the problem we have identified is likely to far broader in scope than just here in little old Sydney town,” he said. “It is likely to be a global concern.” Mr Collins said there had been a similar problem in the West Midlands in the United Kingdom. Mr Collins said while Sydney’s other light rail lines — the CBD and Southeast — had different trams, Parramatta’s upcoming light rail system had the same vehicles on order. “There are the Parramatta trams and four additional units on order from Spain, but what we have said is that we want to be clearly comfortable that the newest versions do not present this long-term engineering challenge,” he said.

Calls for locally made trams

NSW Shadow Transport spokesperson Jo Haylen said the government should be buying Australian made. “It is time the government learnt from its mistakes instead of buying overseas-built trams that do not work,” Ms Haylen said. “We need a quality product built here in Australia that passengers can rely on.” “This is what happens when you try to save money by building overseas.” Mr Stokes said he expected NSW taxpayers would not be out of pocket. “We expect the contractor to meet the costs and liabilities of their contract, so it is my expectation this will not cost the taxpayer a cent,” he said. On Saturday November 6, Transdev – which operates the inner west light rail and the L2 Randwick and L3 Kingsford lines – said the cracking on the inner west trams was “extensive”. Transdev Sydney managing director Arsene Durand-Raucher said the company believed it made the right decision to halt tram services while inspections continue. The Randwick and Kingsford light rail lines are operating as normal. “The cracking is surely extensive, but at the moment and until we finish the inspection, we don’t know what the final outcome will be,” Mr DurandRaucher said. “The work for us now will be around how we reach the best outcome from a passenger’s perspective with a bus replacement.”

Buses to Replace Inner West Trams

More than two dozen buses have been providing replacement services between Central and Dulwich Hill for commuters, at a cost to the government of several thousand dollars a day. Mr Durand-Raucher said Transdev would be moving from an “emergency response” bus service to a more regular service while the line is out of operation. NSW Labor Leader Chris Minns said the shutdown of the 12.8-kilometre line was “totally unacceptable” and said it was the result of sending local jobs and manufacturing offshore. “Tens of thousands rely on the service every day and will now be stranded for over a year,” Mr Minns said. Daniel Jaggers, President of the RTBU Tram and Bus Division, said the trams were “falling apart” and urged the government to offer support to workers on the inner west line while the cracking was addressed. “We’re calling for an iron-clad commitment that the government will find and support alternative employment for the workers on the inner west light rail,” Mr Jaggers said. “For decades transport workers in NSW have been calling for our transport infrastructure to be made and maintained on our shores. Workers were ignored, but they shouldn’t now be made to pay for the government’s mistakes.”

Your RTBU members and delegates celebrated a significant victory after Sydney Trains backed down from taking disciplinary action against your fellow union members and elected representatives.

During industrial action there are protections in place to ensure the sanctity of the delegates and members rights, however Sydney Trains chose to ignore this by pursuing two RTBU delegates representing members at the bargaining table involving the Sydney and NSW Trains Enterprise Agreements. These negotiations have always had a history of becoming heated; however, this had taken a dark direction, and our delegates were being targeted by management. In one case, a delegate had been suspended from duty by being met at the depot entry by a manager and a security guard at 2200hrs in an isolated location and issued a letter of suspension with a total disregard to the delegate’s welfare. This action was a blatant attempt by Sydney Trains to bully your workplace representatives and force an inferior EA onto you. In response, the RTBU placed a call to action in the format of an online petition demanding Sydney Trains withdraw its intended disciplinary action which resulted in more than 1,645 union members signing the petition. Your demand was crystal clear: ‘hands off our delegates’. It was outrageous conduct by Sydney Trains to go after your bargaining delegates in an act of brazen bullying and harassment coupled with the threat of disciplinary action. The demand of Sydney Trains was further reiterated by the RTBU Delegates and other members of the Combined Rail Unions (CRU) agreeing to form a block and refusing to partake in any further negotiations until our demands were met. The combined above actions delivered a blow to Sydney and NSW Trains, with the suspended delegate being returned to duties, and an apology being issued for the treatment of these brave delegates. The radical shift of Sydney Trains demonstrates the power of the union movement and what can be achieved when we stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity and sending the clear message of when Sydney Trains touches one they touch all! Now is the time to get more involved in the EA Bargaining Campaign by sharing RTBU posts of Facebook and checking if your workmate is in the RTBU and if not, inviting them to join. There has never been a better and more exciting time to join.

Infrastructure members at ARTC Maitland keeping up to date with the Rail and Road.

GET YOUR UNION NEWS

Need to keep up-to-date with what’s happening in your union, need to know more about how fellow members are fighting for workers’ rights and winning battles on a daily basis make sure you grab your next edition of Rail and Road, or check out the rtbuexpress.com.au

NSW Heritage Act Review Must Ensure Peoples Stories are told

The NSW Government has conducted a Review of the Act which is now over 40 years old, finding that affects us all. It is our stories, memories and collective experiences.

Unions were front and centre in introducing the original Heritage Act in 1977, primarily due to the pioneering efforts of the NSW Builders Labourers Federation. The BLF and its leader Jack Mundey instituted the now internationally famous “Green Bans” to prevent greedy developers from knocking down Sydney’s heritage buildings and appropriating public land for a quick quid. Fast forward fifty years and many communities believe from bitter experience that the wheel has turned full circle and the property developers have too much power once again. Our RTBU Retired Members Association has made a detailed submission to the Heritage Act Review and appeared as a witness before an Upper House Inquiry. The Association was able to draw on the many experiences we have encountered in fighting for the recognition and showcasing of rail workers at the former Eveleigh Locomotive Workshops which are being repurposed for retail and commercial purposes by property giant Mirvac. The centrepiece of the Association’s campaign has been ensuring the Eveleigh workers stories are recognised and presented in an appealing format using the latest technology. There is a treasure trove of information about the history of Eveleigh’s workers. This includes oral histories, photographs and descriptions of the role of Eveleigh’s social clubs as well as the many struggles at Eveleigh to improve wages and to improve primitive working conditions in the Workshops when few occupational health and safety rights existed. Heritage preservation has overwhelmingly focussed on buildings and in some instances machine collections. Eveleigh Workshops is a fine example of this with the grand Victorian era architecture and machines that enabled the fabrication, assembling and repair of the NSW railways locomotive fleet. The missing ingredient in heritage conservation is the workers who enabled this production have been largely forgotten, they have become industrial ghosts. The Association’s submission and witness evidence underlined the changes to how heritage is and should be defined to ensure greater recognition is given to living culture, including the history of working people. Our society has changed remarkably in recent decades due to immigration and social movements and a more diverse range of stories needs to be told and preserved. The Association’s submission made practical suggestions as to how increased resources for heritage conservation could be funded and that there needed to substantial changes to ensure increased participation, education and training for local communities to be involved in heritage conservation.

Major Gain for our Association

A public inquiry by the NSW Legislative Council has conducted a root and branch review of the Act and made a raft of recommendations for changes to both the legislative regime and the administration of heritage conservation in NSW. The Rail, Tram and Bus Unions Retired Members Association has been conducting a long campaign to ensure repurposed state heritage sites such as the former Eveleigh Locomotive Workshops in Redfern include the stories of the many industrial and political struggles forged by generations of workers and their Unions. The Review noted that Intangible Cultural Heritage had emerged as a key area of concern with a demonstrable gap in the architecture of the Act. It didn’t reflect structural changes to the economy and that there was scope to align the Act to a more contemporary understanding of heritage , including more explicit recognition that heritage consists of more than just built or tangible items. The Review Committee observed ‘’ the most vocal advocate of this position was the RTBU RMA which considered the current act to be fabric centric , a bias reflected in its definitions, objects and other elements such as the statutory functions of the Heritage Council.” The Committee commented “the state heritage register was considered inadequate in reflecting the diverse social and cultural fabric of the community, specific attention should be given to migrant communities, indigenous communities, women and other groups,” and recommended “that the NSW government amend the Heritage Act to explicitly reflect contemporary concerns, thinking and approaches to heritage conservation including intangible cultural heritage”. The NSW Government is required to respond to the 26 recommendations of the Committee within six months. Important steps have been taken to modernise the Act to reflect contemporary concepts, thinking and approaches to heritage conservation. Our campaign is far from over but a significant breakthrough has been made.