Bonnyrigg members ‘played’ out of full time work

The Tram & Bus Division says STA has cruelly shafted 55 members at the Bonnyrigg depot out of full-time work.

The union says Bonnyrigg members are furious after learning that the Government has written a contract that specifically writes those 55 members out of any offer of employment with the new contractor.

Bonnyrigg depot was formed just over 10 years ago when the Government wanted to introduce the T-way service and STA started the operation with around 50 members.

The bus operators who went to the new depot went with the belief they were being offered a job with any new contract operator for Region Three.

After almost a decade the Government has finally announced a new successfully contractor, Transit Systems – Perth.

The union has been in discussions with STA, Transport for NSW and have written correspondence with the Transport Director General about what offer our members were to be offered but we’ve received no clear answers.

It has become very apparent that our members at Bonnyrigg have been played and some of them for the last ten years for the duration of the T-way operation.

Divisional Secretary Chris Preston said that this was done by saying that the new contractor only has to offer the current private operators a job in Region Three.

“This is solely designed to eliminate our members’ rights to be offered a job,” Chris said.

“This is a disgrace and if this is how the private contract operators are going to treat the state’s bus workers then the union says, ‘shame on you, Gladys’.

“It has now become a hostile workplace and the only solution would be for the Government to step in and demand that the 55 loyal bus operators who have operated the T-way be offered full time employment at Bonnyrigg.”