Newcastle industrial action update

As you know, we had planned not to operate the BDC consoles from Tuesday next week (14th June).

Lawyers on behalf of KDH wrote to the union last night with concerns about the notified action. Their main objection was that the BDC has other functions apart from activating the opal readers. There is also case law showing in situations like this where other functions not flagged in the action are affected, the Fair Work Commission has called it illegal.

If we take the action and fight it in the FWC and are delivered such decision, it means that all actions become illegal and we can’t do anything for the rest of the bargaining period.

To avoid even the possibility of that happening, we have withdrawn that notification and will be proceeding with further work stoppages shortly.

We will be seeking to take the BDC action soon but legal consideration must be given to exactly how the notice is worded. Clearly, losing the BDC functionality is something that causes the company concern, so it’s not something we’re going to stop working towards.