Transit Systems Region 6: FWC Wage Decision

RTBU Tram and Bus Division Delegates and Officials are currently in the process of bringing Transit Systems to the table to negotiate the Enterprise Agreement for members in Region 6.

We wrote to TSA asking them to implement the legal decision of the Fair Work Commission and increase the pay of RTBU members under the Copied State Award to 2.5% effective from 1 July 2021. This is mandated under the FWC minimum wage adjustment to the lowest paid workers and workers on Copied State Awards with no further increases. Under law, this is payable to those members on the old STA Award (which is a Copied State Award) in Region 6.

The initial response from the TSA was that it would be paid. 

Despite this commitment we were notified that Transit Systems planned to offer 2.5% as the initial wage increase in our first negotiated Federal Enterprise Agreement. 

TSA are effectively twisting the bargaining in their favour. Not only are they trying to claim credit for a wage increase won by the Union movement for working people, but they are also failing to adhere to the bargaining environment by incorrectly framing this pay increase as an EA increase, rather than a minimum wage adjustment.   

This distraction is a cheap employer tactic to distract us from their spin and avoid discussing real wage increases through the proper bargaining process.

Bargaining does not work this way, and the RTBU will not bend its arm to mediocre offers.

This is not how bargaining works. The RTBU has not agreed to this on behalf of Region 6 members. We will continue the fight to have this increase paid.