Member update: Keolis Downer refuses to bargain with the RTBU
August 25, 2025
Dear Members,
This morning your EA bargaining representatives were scheduled to meet with management to continue bargaining. Due to the Company’s refusal to release your bargaining representatives to consider its response, and plan the next steps for the bargain after the last Fair Work Commission hearing, the meeting time was pushed back from 10am to 1pm to allow this to happen.
Branch Secretary Toby Warnes met with our representatives this morning and attended the meeting. Unfortunately, the Company’s management refused to meet with us if Toby was present and asked all of your representatives to leave the premises.
This is an outrageous move by the Company, and a new low in this bargain. They can’t dictate who represents us during bargaining anymore than we can tell them who bargains for them. It has shown that the Company is not serious about bargaining, and demonstrates a general disdain for its workers.
In response, your bargaining representatives have decided to lodge a new protected action ballot order with the Fair Work Commission to open up a new suite of protected industrial actions to escalate this dispute. The new actions will be designed to maximise the impact on the Company without costing members money.
Shortly, you will be asked to vote again on these new protected actions. It is important that we demonstrate to the Company with a big YES vote just how serious we are about achieving an enterprise agreement with fair pay and conditions.
Right now, we’re asking all members to complete the below survey on what actions you are willing to take immediately in order to continue our escalation of industrial action.