Newcastle Buses EA update (14 April 2025)
Dear Members,
Last week we finally saw what the RTBU considers the first proper bargaining meeting in line with what was agreed to by the Union and the KDH back in December 2024. At that first meeting we agreed that there would be day long meetings every fortnight after Christmas and the New Year period. When we got to that point, the company started scheduling 2 hour meetings fortnightly and then had issues releasing the delegates. Well, a couple of weeks of no Opal machines seems to have encouraged them to return to the table as intended, which can only be a good thing.
To get that action rolling, we had to attend a compulsory conference at the Fair Work Commission as every does when having a ballot for protected action done. At this meeting, when the Commissioner made a comment that it was an extensive Log, the company grabbed that like a starving dog and then proceeded to make out as if that was their opinion all along and that was the reason they had not responded; they were simply unable to deal with it. The company seemed to conveniently forget they have had our Log of Claims since the end of January and had been sitting on that with no response for a month and a half.
At the Commissioners suggestion, the Union caucused and distilled the Log into a short list of items we felt that members wanted most. The entire original list was then put together in an excel spreadsheet with extra columns for ‘Reasons’ etc. The company suddenly found the motivation to respond and the RTBU received their amended version of the spreadsheet on Saturday April 5 2025. Many of the items were marked ‘No’ for them agreeing and also for the reason. The issue here is that leaves no room for discussion if they won’t even explain what there is about a proposal that they object to. Much of Thursday’s meeting was going over some of these items trying to understand why to company had said no.
The 7-hour meeting held last Thursday (10 April 2025) was productive in the sense that we did get a position from KDH about pay offers. Members will recall that although there are claims that have a financial component, the main game in town is the pay rise and lifting the trainees pay as well as shortening the steps trainees have to go through. The company proposed a 4/3/3 percent increase across a 3-year agreement. They also proposed that trainees on Level 1 are given an additional 2% per year for the life of the EA. Over time this would eliminate the level 1 trainee grade and all trainees would start on level 2.
The RTBU also pushed for a solid timeframe for notice before shifts and put forward a 72-hour minimum. The company refused and so the union reduced to a 48-hour minimum notice for a shift change. 48 is absolutely the minimum notice period that we are willing to accept. Bus driver is not regular shift work. Even if you are on a roster, your start times can vary by several hours and there has to be some sort of consideration for workers to help plan their lives.
Union meetings were held at both depots the next day (11 April 2025) and members were informed about the company offer and answered questions about the negotiation and general issues. Members moved and voted up a resolution to continue the current industrial action and not put on further actions at this time. After each EA meeting the RTBU will hold meetings on site at both depots and get directions from members about the status of industrial action.