Mona Vale safety dispute – members dig in

As soon as STA announced that our members at Mona Vale were losing a relief point staff bus, RTBU Delegate Matthew Compton arranged rank-and-file depot meetings and the proposal was rejected unanimously.

Under the new arrangements, drivers would be required to walk to the Darley Road relief point instead of using staff buses.

Members quickly pointed out that, the reason staff buses were introduced initially was because it was unsafe to walk from the relief point back to the depot with very large amounts of money (usually from route L90) and various old incidents were quoted.  Members said the actual walking isn’t a problem but the well documented security problems in the area means it is simply “unsafe”.

Matt Compton asked WorkCover for assistance and the WorkCover Inspector has issued a provisional improvement notice (P.I.N) banning the walk to the relief point.

This was a huge blow to Mona Vale management and great news for Union members.

STA can appeal the WorkCover decision, but to knowingly put employees in danger would be a foolish move and the Union would make sure that STA is held accountable.