Transport Worker: Summer 2014

TRANSPORT WORKER contacts

TRANSPORT WORKER editorial staff

TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION SOUTH AUSTRALIA /NORTHERN TERRITORY BRANCH

25 Chief Street Brompton SANT Office: Roy Avery House, Unit 3/63

Winnellie Road, Winnellie NTAll correspondence should be addressed to:

The SecretaryTransport Workers Union of

Australia, SA/NT BranchPO Box 137 Welland SA 5007

Office HoldersPresident

Bryan McIntoshVice President

Michael VogtBranch Secretary/Treasurer

Ray WyattAssistant Branch Secretary

Ian SmithTrustees

Ian Gonsalves & Edward LawrieBranch Committee of Management

Peter Brammy, Romana Hutchinson, Matthew Spring, Daniel McNicol, Scott Concannon,

Frank Kesak & Jeremy CzolosynskiNational Councillors

Bryan McIntosh, Ray Wyatt,Romana Hutchinson (Women’s Officer) &

Jeremy Czolosynski

TWU Branch OfficialsIan Gonsalves, Matthew Spring, Justin Lewis

& Elise McLay

SATelephone: (08) 8346 4177Facsimile: (08) 8346 8580

NTTelephone: (08) 8947 2194Facsimile: (08) 8947 2217

SA OfficePO Box 137 Welland SA 5007

Darwin OfficePO Box 39721 Winnellie NT 0821

TWU website: www.twusant.com.au TWU email: [email protected]

Editor Ray WyattSub-Editor Cherie Baddeley

Writers Ray Wyatt, Ian Gonsalves, Ian Smith, Justin Lewis, Matthew Spring, Sam McIntosh, Edward

Lawrie and Elise McLayAdvertising Ken Banfield

EDITORIAL INQUIRIESTelephone (08) 8346 4177 Fax (08) 8346 8580Email [email protected] INQUIRIESTelephone (08) 8212 6227 Fax (08) 8212 3982

TRANSPORTW O R K E R

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Marching for Road Safety

Summer 2014 edition

Our Year in Review

Marching for Road Safety

2 Summer 2014 - Transport Worker

● COMMENT

It’s been another huge year at the TWU.First of all, recognition is in order for the uncontested election results for our Transport Workers’ Team, President Bryan McIntosh, Vice President Michael Vogt, Branch Secretary Ray Wyatt and Assistant Branch Secretary Ian Smith. Congratulations also to our National Secretary Tony Sheldon and Assistant National Secretary Michael Kaine, and to all Transport Workers’ Teams across the country, for the overwhelming endorsement of our Towards 2035 Vision.

As a union, our power lies in our numbers and our willingness to stand tall and be counted. At the TWU, we’ve never shied away from standing up for what we believe in, and never will. Like most Australian industries, transport is heading towards a cross-road. Workers are under attack. Jobs are becoming less secure every week. More and more employees are being taken on as casuals, and agency hire workers are becoming the norm. Safety is improving on our roads or in our skies too slowly. This year we had a choice. We chose to fight – and win. In 2014 your TWU secured major wins throughout the transport industry. We marched for road safety, we stopped work for safe rates on our buses and we fought back at our airports.Once again, membership throughout our major trucking companies has increased. That’s a huge achievement, and our national agreement at StarTrack has set a new standard in the PUD sector. We fought hard to secure safe rates for our hard working bus drivers after an almighty battle with bus companies and the South Australian and Northern Territory governments. Excitingly, Darwin is alive with activity.Nationally, we’ve made great strides. We’ve increased the level of TWU activity at Australian airports to levels that we’ve never seen before. We’ve taken on Coles and made significant gains with Woolworths, including fixing waiting times at the Gepps Cross DC in Adelaide. Thank you again to all of our delegates and members for your tireless efforts. Your level of commitment is fantastic and our results speak for themselves. As a result, your union is well-placed for the years and decades ahead.Have a safe and happy break over the holiday season, and a special thank you to all the hard working transport workers that keep our society functioning, while everyones enjoying a festive break. To list a few: Aviation, Refuse, General Transport, Public Transport, Cash in Transit and Fuel, I look forward to more success in 2015.

Ray Wyatt

Branch Secretary and National President of the Transport Workers’ Union

Ray Wyatt

“Rules are not necessarily sacred,

principles are’”- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Transport Worker - Summer 2014 3

● MARCHING FOR ROAD SAFETYIn September, your union held a silent march to raise awareness for road safety in South Australia.Everyone would have seen recent coverage of the horror smashes on the South Eastern Freeway. The horrific consequences of those events have made the public begin to understand the extreme conditions that our road transport members are put under every day. From the government to industry groups and the community at large, everyone is starting to talk about what we can do to turn the crisis on our roads around, and not a moment too soon.Over 100 people marched together in September to raise awareness for better road safety and safe rates for transport workers. Those marching included truck & courier drivers, long-time members, families, members of the community and politicians.We may have been silent, but the power of our message was deafening. As the group began to cross King William Road, we did an impromptu sit-in. To the surprise of motorists, the media and police, we all sat down in the middle of the road. Traffic came to a stand-still from all directions. After a while, having made a statement of intent, our marchers stood up and marched silently along the River Torrens. Marchers then gathered in Elder Park around 15 sets of empty shoes, which symbolised the number of lives lost in heavy vehicle crashes in South Australia this year.The TWU National Committee of Management had been meeting in Adelaide at the time of the march, and all interstate secretaries got involved in leading the charge. National Secretary Tony Sheldon and SA/NT Branch Secretary Ray Wyatt took the opportunity to speak to the media about the intolerable pressures big clients like Coles put on transport companies and truck drivers in our industry. We also had powerful speeches from a number of TWU delegates.Around 330 people are killed in truck crashes every year in Australia. They are husbands, wives, sisters and brothers. Often those killed are commuters. Families are destroyed.The silent march was particularly significant as only weeks earlier a young TWU member working for Transpacific through a labour hire company was involved in a smash that killed multiple commuters and left him in a critical condition. It’s a situation that nobody ever wants to see happen again.Safety standards in the road transport industry need to change. Our silent march was a small but powerful step on that journey.


● AROUND THE YARDS

In March, Q Catering closed its doors with the loss of 150 jobs at the national carrier. The company had claimed that it was not cost effective for them to build a new catering centre as Adelaide Airport had decided to use the space that their centre was located on for an expansion. While Qantas didn’t feel it was worth building a new catering centre, Alpha flight logistics did and they built a brand new catering centre and are the only large catering centre at the airport, giving Alpha an affective monopoly which was what Qantas gave up when they closed the centre. Many of the Q Catering employees found work at Alpha and are still working at the airport in the same roles that they were previously employed in with Q Catering.VirginVirgin had their agreement approved by employees. It is the first in aviation to give a guarantee of full-time work. At a time when almost all other aviation companies are seeking permanent part-time and casual employees the Virgin agreement is an important win for aviation workers.

The TWU has been conducting a national survey of all aviation workers and the findings show a huge trend towards permanent part-time and casual employment, with the majority of employees not getting full-time hours and even those who do get full-time hours are not being guaranteed these hours.The TWU is determined to fight against this trend. For an industry that is worth $35 billion a year this trend is disgusting and diminishes what was once a great carrier down to just a stop gap job this affects both safety and efficiency. It is driven by greed from the company’s involved. There are some notable examples of company’s that are not doing this; Virgin has given a guarantee that 35% of employees will be full-time and the majority of staff at Alpha are employed full-time. The TWU says well done to both but, we all must fight to make others such as Qantas take the same stance. Qantas company QGS has 1500 employees across the country but not one full-time job amongst them. This

means that employees at QGS are not guaranteed to receive the minimum full-time wage as they are only guaranteed 20 hours a week. This leads to a high turn over of employees which leads to a fall in safety as the long term employees who train new employees on how to work safely are not there to do this.Companies like Aerocare, Arrow and Broadlex who are all working at the Adelaide Airport have no full-time employees. They are paying the lowest rates of pay they can and give no guarantee of security of employment. It is sad for me to have seen the closure of Q Catering which had employees who had worked there for decades the longest being in excess of 40 years. Now is the time for all aviation workers to stand up and say enough is enough and this industry must be protected. If you are interested in becoming part of the future of the aviation industry contact Matthew Spring and join the fight to protect decent jobs in the aviation industry.

Aviation Industry - Year in ReviewQ Catering

Insecure Work

Matthew Spring

advertising space Ken Banfield



Thousands of TWU members work in the aviation industry. We have members working throughout the airport – from the men and women working on the tarmac right through to those in guest services and our security personnel. No matter where you turn at Adelaide airport, you’re bound to see a TWU member.If you talk to our members about what life was like working in the aviation industry 10 or 20 years ago, they will tell you that - by and large - it was a great industry to work in. There were decent full-time jobs that you could raise a family on and at the end of the day you could go home satisfied after a good days work. Safety standards were high and working conditions were fair.But the Australian aviation industry is an industry in trouble.

Profits are being squeezed by high fuel prices, there’s increasing competition from international airlines with much lower labour standards and operations like Q Catering are closing down. As a result, local airlines are now pushing hard to lower our members’ standards of living through:• Contracting out work to smaller operators that are prepared to the same work for

less pay;• Using labour hire work as a substitute for direct employment; and• More and more casual and part time jobs instead of good full-time jobs.Australian aviation is a multi-billion dollar industry, but the big winner is Adelaide Airport Limited and not the local airlines. Local airlines claim they are not making money and we know that things aren’t getting any easier for the workforce. Adelaide Airport Limited controls the South Australian aviation supply chain and is rapidly expanding. There’s no doubt that the airport corporation itself needs to be part of the solution when it comes to raising standards across the board.We’re putting our hand up as Australia’s aviation union to play our part in turning our aviation industry around. A new TWU Adelaide Airport Organising Committee has just been formed, with TWU members from a range of companies getting involved. The Adelaide Airport Organising Committee has already met and is in the process of forming a plan to bring quality aviation jobs back to Adelaide. But we need representatives from all companies on the Committee. Do you work in the aviation industry and are you prepared to play a part?Working together, we’re going to unionise the entire workforce at Adelaide airport – including all small subcontractors – to create a situation where no company is able to undercut good union work with unsafe rates and poor conditions. We all know that in the aviation industry work should go to the best operator, not the cheapest. Safety is paramount and, in an increasingly uncertain world in terms of security and workers being able to make ends meet, we need to be in the business of raising standards.

Building Power at Adelaide Airport

Ian Smith

Toll Priority owner drivers recently displayed what can be done when we all stand together as one and take the boss on.

For over five months we had been in negotiations with Toll for a replacement collective agreement at Toll Priority. We had almost agreed on all points in contention, with the exception of the painting of vans during a drivers’ first contract.

Despite an earlier commitment to do a collective agreement, Toll made the decision that they were going to offer individual contracts to all owner drivers. In response, we called a meeting to discuss the problem as all of our members at Toll Priority (99% of all drivers) saw Toll’s approach as totally unacceptable.

At that meeting, our delegate - responding to the strong views of the membership - had a unanimous motion passed that no driver would go back to work until we got an answer in writing from Toll regarding a collective agreement.

It took only about one hour before the company agreed to do a collective agreement, with a 3% rate increase and back pay from 30 June 2014. What a great result and testament to our power when we stand together for what is right.

Elsewhere around Toll, things have been getting more active as we move closer to Christmas. Your TWU will be continuing to strive for a better way and will be pursuing the simplification of local agreements at all Toll yards.

TOLL



Linfox

StarTrack

Ian SmithTNTYour TWU has once again been very busy at TNT.TNT is currently trying to introduce Individual Flexibility Agreements (IFA), regarding a productivity bonus, for our airfreight drivers in South Australia. The company refused the TWU access to the meeting where this issue was discussed, although we made sure our delegate attended. IFA’s have previously been introduced in Victoria, and TWU members have serious concerns about their introduction as our drivers already have no time to do the extra work that is required and have had their start times changed by 30 minutes to stop them receiving tea money on a regular basis.Further, one of our biggest concerns with the proposed arrangement is that drivers will start to skip their lunch breaks, be forced to cut corners in PUD work and potentially speed just to get the bonus. In other news at TNT, the TWU would like to extend a big thank you to our retiring delegate Chris Parsons who has held the position for over 10 years and has always held TWU values at heart. We wish Chris and his family all the best.

TWU membership at StarTrack is now over 75 percent thanks to the work of all of our committed delegates. That’s powerful.The national StarTrack agreement has now been finalised with solid wage growth and improvements in worker rights, along with very good safe rates clauses that will protect jobs at StarTrack. Importantly, our StarTrack owner drivers have also had a pay increase passed on to them as a result of the national agreement.However, StarTrack is now going through some interesting times post-merger with Australia Post. A complete restructure of the business has taken place, with managerial changes across the board. Identifying that this merger has been a significant event for the transport industry as a whole, our TWU delegates and members are working hard to lift standards across the industry that will deliver decent jobs for all workers in the sector.

A local agreement has now been negotiated at Linfox OI that has delivered some success for our members. As the business continues to change, with challenges never far around the corner, we need to work together to keep making sure we protect jobs and workers’ rights.FCL linehaul operations continue to be a source of important discussions between our members and management. To put it simply, our members have had enough of major safety concerns. Management had been riding rough shot by writing up members for minor breaches, and what appeared to be major safety issues on the worksite that had been raised by members were being overlooked. In response, our delegates at FCL called a member-led meeting where more than 15 issues that needed to be addressed were raised in over an hour. Our members were not prepared to go back to work until we had some resolution to the matters that had been raised. This collective action certainly got the notice of Linfox senior management, and in a good result for the membership action has since been taken on the majority of the issues that were raised. As a union, we continue to have challenges regarding Linfox’s linehaul operations across the board. Your TWU has been negotiating with the company using clause 34 of the national agreement regarding the issue. It’s our firm view that the shuttle roster - although legal - it is not the way to go. Linfox linehaul should be the best long distance job in the country, as you are home in your bed at the end of every day. However, the company have made numerous changes to the roster over the course of the year but very few of the changes have benefited our members. Watch this space, as safety in the long-haul sector is critically important to everyone.


● ON THE BUSES

Ian Gonsalves

Running Early The Benefits of a 3 percent Safety Net

Bus Drivers Lend a Hand

Bus Network Committee

On Friday, 17 October, TWU delegates from the Light City Buses Morphetville depot held an event to raise money for Cora Barclay, an organisation dedicated to the welfare of deaf children.The fundraising event was combined with Indian Divali celebrations. Divali is an important festival that celebrates light and hope and is a great opportunity to bring all members of the community together.Led by delegate Daljeet Bakshi, for a small donation LCB members were treated to an amazing spread of food and were entered into a raffle for a home gym. Everyone enjoyed the event and hundreds of dollars were raised for Cora Barclay, who accepted the generous donation on the day.Congratulations to all involved in the fundraising and celebrations and to all drivers that participated. Once again, the TWU is making a huge difference in our community. Keep up the great work and we look forward to next year!

It might sound odd, but early running has started to become a major issue for South Australian bus operators.There has been an increase in the number of bus operators running early against the time points of their journey, which has meant that quite a few operators have been disciplined and in some cases even terminated. When a bus runs early, the company is penalised which can result is heavy fines. All of hard-working bus operators need to remember to run your timing points by the BCU - that way, if there is a discrepancy about the timing point, we at least have a chance to challenge that with the government. Be careful not to run early!

Increased SecurityThe government has increased security in the bus industry, with 30 new transit officers now on deck. Transit officers are now travelling on buses but are not in uniform. Increased levels of security have only come about because of the high profile security campaign that your TWU has been running this year. However we’re still hearing about serious safety issues every week, so this is going to need to be an ongoing campaign for better security on our bus network. Watch this space.

Greyhound NegotiationsNational Greyhound negotiations are underway, with delegates elected to fly to Brisbane for the bargaining meetings. Members at the Adelaide depot have so far indicated that the conditions that are being proposed are ok, and a 3 percent pay increase would be a good result. However as this is a national agreement, we will have to see what TWU members from other states are going to put forward and go from there. We’re very confident of securing a strong result at Greyhound and know we can win when we stick together.

The campaigns that the TWU ran earlier this year for fair agreements at Light City Buses and SouthLink were hugely successful. Part of the reason behind the success of the campaigns was that our delegate-led negotiating committees were able to secure (through their companies and the government) 3 percent pay increases each year, no matter where the government pay index falls each quarter.Congratulations to our members at Light City Buses and SouthLink for securing what we knew was going to be an excellent win. The 3 percent pay safety nets that was negotiated at both of these companies has meant that are members still take home a decent wage each week.This situation once again shows the power of standing united and taking the fight up. Well done to our committed delegates and keep up the great work. Every day you are making a real difference.

A big thank you to our Bus Network Committee for attending meetings throughout the year on Saturdays to discuss the campaigns that we needed to put forward to improve South Australia’s bus. The Bus Network Committee has been led by our delegates at Light City Buses, SouthLink and Torrens Transit and can point to some major wins this year in areas such as enterprise agreements and security. We’re already looking forward to another year of improving bus operators’ conditions in South Australia next year. A new campaign to improve access to toilet facilities is already in the wings.We all benefit from the hard work and dedication of our delegates on this Committee. They do a fantastic job and keep up the great work!



advertising space as requested by Ken Banfield

Your union has been keeping up the campaign to make Australia’s big retailers accountable to our trucking industry.Major retailers like Coles account for almost one third of all road freight in Australia. They have enormous power and effectively set the rates of pay in our industry. Even though retailers don’t directly employ truck drivers (other than Coles Online drivers), their market power makes them ‘price makers’, while transport companies and truck drivers simply act as ‘price takers’.However, while major retailers on one hand control our industry, on the other hand they refuse to take any responsibility for the carnage on our roads.That must change. Yes, drivers and transport companies have to do the right thing, but big industry clients need to be made accountable too. We all work in their supply chains.In South Australia, we recently formed a group made up of drivers from companies that do work for Woolworths. We now have more than 15 drivers involved with the Woolworths Drivers Committee – some union delegates, others not. Through petitions and media interviews, members of the Drivers Committee have been getting our message out to other drivers whose companies do work for major retailers. But they have also played a critical role in actually putting a plan to major retailers for how they can change the way they work with the transport industry.So far, Woolworths has been the only retailer to engage closely with our union. To their credit, Woolworths has acknowledged the collective voice and power of our Drivers Committee. The Drivers Committee has already met with national Woolworths management. At that meeting, our drivers told Woolworths what needs to change in the industry, starting with their Gepps Cross distribution centre. In an interim win for all drivers, we’re pleased to report that the Drivers Committee has been able to make real progress at the DC. So far we have got Woolworths to build a new driver lunch room in the chill section and have seen significant improvements to waiting times at the DC.But we need to do more.Working with Woolworths, the Drivers Committee is committed to improving turnaround times, transparency and fair contracting throughout Woolworths’ supply chain. We need all drivers to get behind the Drivers Committee and their union. If you know drivers that do work for major retailers, tell them about our union’s campaign and why they need to be part of it. If you do work for Woolworths, get in touch, join our committee and make a real difference. The more of us on board, the more powerful we will become.

Introducing Your Woolworths Drivers Committee



advertising space as requested by Ken Banfield

Recent safety incidents in the waste industry have again highlighted how important it is that we have a strong union presence in all local waste companies. Not much has to go wrong in a waste truck for deadly consequences to follow. A number of workplace agreements at South Australian waste companies are expiring this year and early next year, and it’s critical that we use this opportunity to bring in as many waste workers into our union as possible. We need decent minimum standards throughout the industry that go over and above the minimums that are set out in the national Waste Award. Not only is every waste worker entitled to the industry allowance, but everyone is entitled to go home safely at the end of each day.Jobs in the waste industry are tough and demanding, and calling for a fair go is the right thing to do.Your union recently held a BBQ out the front of a central Adelaide dump. We got a great reception from everyone we met and we want to run more and more activities that bring us into contact with local waste workers.Over the coming months we will also be kicking off a campaign – led by committed TWU members working in the industry – to make local councils accountable for the way they contract out their waste work. Too often it is local councils (local government) that squeezes waste contracts so hard that the company willing to tender the least wins the work, rather than the company that provides a quality service with decent rates and conditions for workers.If you’re interested in getting more involved in the campaign for a fairer and safer waste industry, get in touch with your union and make your voice heard!

Look out for the TWU at a Dump Near You!


● AROUND THE YARDSGAS IndustryAPAMembers at APA have been negotiating their agreement this year. The current claim on the table is for a 3.5 percent pay increase each year and no change to the current conditions in the agreement. The company has offered a 2.5 percent pay increase per year and some proposed changes to the agreement that are not in the best interests of the members - including no back pay. The vote has just come back and was 77.6% no, so we will be back at the negotiating table this could be a long fight.

OriginOrigin Energy has now moved to a new building at 100 Waymouth Street. Our members appear to be settling in well. As is to be expected, security is a little tighter - which is good for all employees. Pleasingly, the building has been completely refurbished, with very modern and up to date facilities. There is still an ongoing issue with employees trying to reach their KPIs. This issue has been looked into again by the round table committee. As a group, we need to stay on top of this and make sure any outcome is fair for everybody.I would again like to thank the delegates and members at Origin for another great year. We’ve again achieved a great deal and our delegates deserve a huge amount of thanks. Special thanks to Cassandra Lengyel for all of her hard work, particularly during the transition to the new building.We look forward to seeing what the New Year brings!

Transfield Garrison Support Pt Wakefield

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Merry Christmas



Elise McLay

Transition from Darwin Bus Service to Territory TransitThe real outcomes of the privatisation of Darwin Bus Service are extremely disappointing and despite assurances from the Department of Transport, our bus drivers are immediately worse off. On the first day the new provider, Territory Transit, effectively took control of the business from the Department of Transport, our drivers were informed via their shift boards that their conditions were changing. This is despite repeated assurances from the Department that this would not occur. The Department needed to ensure that, in order to avoid paying out redundancy packages to our long serving and loyal Public Servant Bus Drivers. However, on day one of the new arrangement, our drivers were informed that their meal breaks would no longer be paid, overtime would be calculated differently and RDO’s would no longer be accrued. When queried, the Government’s response was that the meal breaks should never have been paid and therefore our long serving and loyal Bus Drivers had been OVERPAID! Not only that but the Chief Executive had an obligation to report this to the Treasury Department who would need to consider whether they would pursue recovering their costs! A disgusting slap in the face for our Drivers who had accepted that the transition would occur. Drivers had voluntarily participated in a three month process that involved them in a Change Management Team. It is incredulous that through this thorough transition process and a comprehensive tender process that these anomalies were not identified. The Department has conceded that they will not pursue costs. However we have not given up and are continuing to explore all our legal options. We have commenced negotiations with Territory Transit in an effort to create an agreement that is favourable to both our drivers and their business, and we look forward to having a healthy and collaborative relationship whilst maintaining the conditions our drivers feel are important. Toll DarwinWelcome to our new delegate at Toll Darwin, Barry Norton, who has shown an active and willing interest in investing in the rights of workers at Toll Darwin. This compliments all the hard work by our dedicated and vigilant delegate Jeremy Czolosyznski. There are a number of issues at Toll Darwin that are being documented well and will be pursued through a Consultative Committee forum. Speak to your delegates to find out how you can contribute and effect positive change in your workplace.ArmaguardA robust EBA negotiation has resulted in our members agreeing to a 1.5% increase for a 2 year deal that is back dated to the expiry of the previous agreement. What this means in effect is that we will be back at the table in a years’ time when the position of the company will be clearer and client structures will be confirmed. We were initially offered a pay freeze so well done to our members for standing together and fighting for a fairer deal.Gate GourmetWell it has been a turbulent year at Gate Gourmet with a seemingly revolving door for their management team. There have been many challenges faced and patience has been tested on more than one occasion. The acquisition of the Air North business presents an exciting time for Gate Gourmet, making it crucial that their day to day operations are efficient. Again a consultative committee forum is being established to improve communication in all directions. Our EBA must be adhered to and any patience around this has evaporated. As we commence negotiations for our new EBA it is a timely reminder to management that the obligations of the business are shared by the workers and the management team. Both parties need to uphold their end of the deal.Buslink VivoWe are regrouping and growing our membership at Buslink Vivo. The company has recognised that they have issues with their ability to retain staff and this has resulted in a significant attitude shift. We are working with several key activists in the workplace to rebuild our power leading into our negotiations next year. There are still concerns around the distribution of shifts which we are currently working to address. The company has reached out to the TWU and we will meet regularly to discuss any concerns and work together collaboratively to achieve solutions.


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For further information, contact Andersons on 1800 653 655 or visit andersons.com.au

This information is not intended as legal advice and should not be substituted for legal advice. The information contained in this article is current at the time of publication – November 2014

Work Capacity Reviews within the South Australian workers compensation systemThe current South Australian workers compensation legislation is undeniably tough for injured workers for many reasons. For example, if someone is incapacitated for work, their weekly payments decrease as time goes by for no other obvious reason than to reduce the financial liability of the WorkCover Corporation or the self-insured employer. Also, workers often complain that they lose their entitlement to receive superannuation contributions whilst they are injured and unable to work. These are just some of the complaints that clients make to us about the State’s workers compensation scheme. However, one of the biggest concerns that our clients experience when they are on the workers compensation system involves the threat of impending cessation of their weekly payments, even if they are still injured and unable to return to their pre-injury employment.Generally, if a worker is injured at work and unable to perform his/her employment duties, they are entitled to receive income maintenance payments for the period of incapacity. The entitlements are based on a worker’s Notional Weekly Earnings (this is the amount of income maintenance a worker is entitled to receive for periods of time when he/she is unable to work as a result of a work-related injury). The entitlements to income maintenance payments are split into 3 different “entitlement periods”:1. The first 13 weeks are paid at 100% of a workers Notional Weekly Earnings;2. The next 13 weeks are paid at 90% of the workers Notional Weekly Earnings;3. The next 104 weeks (2 years) are paid at 80% of the workers Notional Weekly Earnings.If you have been incapacitated as a result of a workplace injury for over 130 weeks (2 and a half years) then the Compensating Authority (the insurer covering your WorkCover entitlements) may conduct a “Work Capacity Review” to determine whether or not you are entitled to continue to receive weekly payments of income maintenance after the end of the “third entitlement period” - that is, 130 weeks after the date of incapacity.Reaching 130 weeks does not necessarily mean a worker’s payments will cease and at Andersons we have successfully argued that income maintenance entitlements should continue beyond the 130 weeks, even in situations where a worker has some capacity for employment.If the compensating authority determines that you are totally incapacitated for work after 130 weeks then your weekly payments should continue at the 80% rate. However, if the Compensating Authority determines that you have a “current capacity for work” then weekly payments of income maintenance may cease after 130 weeks. If you have a current capacity for work, and working to your maximum capacity, but have not been cleared as fit for your pre-injury duties then you may make an application for payments to continue in accordance with Section 35C of the SA Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, 1986. The section 35C application will be approved if the Compensating Authority finds that you have a current capacity for work, are working to your maximum capacity in suitable employment and you are unable to earn more income. As long as you are exhausting your capacity for work, your payments should continue. However, if you are working, but not exhausting your capacity, payments can end – for example, if your doctor indicates you have a capacity to work 6 hours per day, but you are only working in a job for 3 hours per day, then you are arguably not exhausting your capacity.Suitable employment is employment in work for which you are currently suited, whether or not the work is available, and takes into account the following: a) the nature of your incapacity and previous employment;b) your age, education, skills and work experience;c) your place of residence;d) medical information relating to you that is reasonably available, including in any medical certificate or report; e) if any rehabilitation programs are being provided to or for you; f) your rehabilitation and return to work plan, if any.The notion of ‘suitable employment’ is often problematic for injured workers because, as mentioned above, the work doesn’t actually need to be available at the time of the Work Capacity Review. For example, if a driver injures his back in the course of employment and has been off work for 130 weeks and their doctor confirms that they should never work as a driver again due to the injury, the Work Capacity Review might confirm that the worker has the capacity to perform work in a different field (eg, office administration). If a doctor certifies that the injured worker can perform this alternative role, the worker’s income maintenance payment can be cut off even if that specific role is not actually available (although the job has to actually exist in the labour market).


Work Capacity Reviews within the South Australian workers compensation system.... continued

● ANDERSONS .... continued

9:00am - 5:00pmMonday to Friday1800 653 655

All other times0406 382 532www.andersons.com.au

For further information, contact Andersons on 1800 653 655 or visit andersons.com.au

This information is not intended as legal advice and should not be substituted for legal advice. The information contained in this article is current at the time of publication – November 2014

Often we are able to mount successful arguments that the listed ‘suitable employment’ is not suitable at all, and income maintenance should therefore continue. For example, if the worker does not have the experience or qualifications to perform a specific role, or if they reside a long distance from the proposed workplace, we may have a strong case for income maintenance payments to continue beyond the 130 weeks.It is important to note that an injured worker has an obligation to make every reasonable effort to return to employment. A worker will not be considered to be making every reasonable effort to return to employment if you:a) refuse to have an assessment made of your employment prospects; orb) refuse or fail to take all reasonably necessary steps to obtain suitable employment; orc) refuse or fail to accept an offer of suitable employment from any person; ord) refuse or fail to participate in a rehabilitation program or a rehabilitation and return to work plan.Unfortunately, entitlements to income maintenance will be even further reduced under the proposed new Return to Work law that will be operational from July 2015. Under this new legislation, most workers will lose their entitlement to receive weekly payments after 2 years unless their injuries are particularly serious. But we will have to wait and see how the new law will actually operate in practice next year.If you are currently in receipt of weekly payments of income maintenance and the end of your third entitlement period is approaching, or has past, you may still be entitled to weekly payments. It is important that you seek experienced advice from your Union.Michael Irvine

Michael is a Associate in our the Andersons Civil Litigation team, Adelaide office.

For further information, contact Andersons on 1800 653 655 or visit Andersons.com.au

This information is not intended as legal advice and should not be substituted for legal advice. The information contained in this article is current at the time of publication – Nov 2014

The agreement that has just been negotiated at BIS unfortunately has shown what can happen when a workplace becomes fractured. Prior to this agreement, your TWU had always won solid outcomes for members. However, with other parties involved on this occasion, things were made considerably more difficult. On a positive note, we did not lose any conditions which our members had previously fought long and hard for. If we stand together I am confident we can secure good outcomes from here on in.

Alinta Leigh CreekOur agreement has been voted on and is now on its way through the Fair Work Commission. The agreement delivers solid increases of 4 percent for each year of the agreement and no loss of any of the conditions that have been fought for and won over the years. We managed to win a few minor, but important, changes to the agreement including ensuring that limited-time employees have more protection through conversion rights in the event that their employment continues after their contract has finished.

TPI Cleanaway Spencer Gulf Pleasingly, a new agreement has just been struck with the company that delivers rates that are comparable to Veolia. We won some clauses in the agreement around training that will assist us in our broader waste industry campaign.

In further news, our members have just taken over the municipal waste contract in Whyalla that has been performed by Veolia for the last 40 years.

TPI Whyalla We have seen significant changes throughout the year at TPI Whyalla, with many members receiving classification upgrades and some other significant victories. Great work by all members concerned.

Steel City Cranes We have been negotiating an EBA this year, with the boss having given a substantial pay increase in good faith although wanting to change some of the conditions in the agreement in return. However TWU members need those important conditions in their agreement protected, so there has been no movement since the initial progress in negotiations.

BIS

AROUND THE YARDS - SA NORTH COUNTRY



Justin Lewis

The Woolworths campaign continues to gain momentum with our message getting out to more and more drivers from transport companies that are clients to the major retailers in Coles and Woolworths. Our Drivers Committee has met once with Woolworth’s management and on 24 November the Committee and Woollies management will once again get together to discuss how we can improve the working conditions of transport workers in the retail supply network.Having been involved in the Committee I have learnt a good deal of what drivers experience not only at the DC’s but also generally within the transport industry and from hearing these issues I have developed a greater understanding of what drivers face in their day to day lives. Through listening to these issues it gives me ideas as how to improve the working conditions of transport workers via their Enterprise Bargaining Agreements.I would like to encourage anyone who does work at the Woolworths DC to contact us and get involved by joining our Drivers Committee as this is the best way that we can make a difference. We have achieved a lot so far but there is still a long way to go to achieve a level playing field within the transport industry, whereby transport companies once again become “price makers”.

Woolworths Campaign

HarrisNegotiations have begun at Harris and the members are understandably keen for improvements in regards to their wages and conditions. I would like to urge for patience from our membership as we may very well have a fight on our hands with such a comprehensive log of claims put forward. I would like to encourage the members at Harris to ask the non-members to join with them and stand together to improve their working conditions. Only by strengthening and uniting the membership will we be able to achieve the best possible outcome for our membership. Within the next week or so I hope to hear back from Harris management as to their response in regards to our log of claims. Once I receive a response I will report back immediately to membership via report back meetings and flyers. With the report back meetings I would like to encourage the members to try and organise outside of work meetings which have worked very well in the past as members have more time to put their views across.Throughout the negotiations I will endeavour to communicate with my membership as much as possible and I would like members to either contact me or delegate Darren Nayda if they wish to get updates or to bring more ideas to the table.

Tony Howlett, Andrew Lewis -Woolworths Distribution Centre Manager, Ray Wyatt and Justin Lewis


● HEADING


● NATIONAL

In the lead up to the Coles AGM, the TWU took up the fight against Coles’ unfair and unsafe practices around the country. We started with a convoy in Queensland and held actions across the nation all the way up to the Wesfarmers AGM in WA on 20 November. TWU SA/NT members let Coles know they must be held to account for playing games with people’s lives by setting low rates, enforcing unrealistic deadlines, and refusing to pay drivers for waiting time. The result is 330 Australians dying in truck crashes each year. In Adelaide, TWU members highlighted that despite earning over $1.6 billion last financial year, Coles is playing games with road safety. Members put together a large Safe Rates board game at Victoria Square in the centre of Adelaide to let Coles know a roll of the dice shouldn’t decide who is lucky enough to make it home each night. In Darwin, members held a truck Go Slow through the city centre of Darwin’s CBD. Members decorated the Go Slow with Safe Rates banners and balloons calling on Coles to take responsibility for safe and fair work conditions throughout its supply chain. It’s concerning Coles have mounted a political campaign against Australia’s road safety watchdog - the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT).Over the past year, Coles and its parent company Wesfarmers have delivered $2.1 million in Liberal donations. We’ve seen closed-door meetings between Coles and Liberal MPs, after which the Government announced a review into the RSRT and labeled it “red tape”. As a major Liberal Party donor, Coles expects something in return for its million dollar donations. It’s disgraceful these donations may have an effect on the RSRT’s future and the future of road safety. By taking action across the country, we’re letting Coles and the Federal Government know road safety is not ‘red tape.’ The RSRT needs to be left in place to do its work in saving lives on Australia’s roads.The TWU is working hard to unite the Federal Opposition, community groups, and minor parties in the Senate - including cross-bench Senators Ricky Muir and Jacqui Lambie who pledged their support to retain the RSRT - to block any repeal of the RSRT, and help prevent further fatalities involving heavy vehicles.

Making sure that Australian jobs are good, secure and fair is something that’s important to all of us. However recent reports show the Federal Government is opening up the gates for a second class of Aussie worker.Nationally, the TWU is asking all members to join our call to put an end to the exploitation of foreign workers in Australia by signing up to the Aussie Work, Aussie Rights team website at http://www.aussieworkaussierights.org.au/.Since the GFC, there has been a steady increase in temporary overseas workers in Australia. With over one million people currently on some form of temporary visa, Australia has effectively outsourced 11% of its workforce. With unemployment, underemployment and in particular youth unemployment reaching 20% in South Australia, the Government’s first priority should be to maximise jobs and training opportunities for locals. The skilled migration program should be viewed as supplementary to our national skills policy. We should be tackling our skills forecasting issue head on - investing in job training and calling out the Aussie companies that won’t give Aussie workers a fair chance. But with the Federal Government stripping back important conditions and employers bringing in overseas workers and cutting $2 billion to the skills portfolio, we’re going to need all the help we can get.The more people who sign up to our Aussie Work Aussie Rights website, the louder our voice will be in our fight to make working in Australia safer and fairer. Make sure you sign up today!

Quality Australian Jobs and Fairness for Foreign Workers

Coles AGM Actions

Sign on to fight for secure training and jobs for Aussie workers at:

www.aussieworkaussierights.org.au


● OUR YEAR IN REVIEW

Edward Lawrie - Industrial Officer

Since 1 January 2014, the Transport Workers’ Union of Australia SA/NT Branch has assisted members in 38 separate Unfair Dismissal Remedy applications, seven General Dispute’s claims, seven General Protections (Adverse Action) claims and 1 Equal Opportunity (Anti-Discrimination) application.Of the 38 Unfair Dismissal Remedy matters the TWU has successfully conciliated an outcome more than 30 of the affected members with only 4 matters going to a full hearing/arbitration. Through conciliation, our members have been able to reach an amicable outcome with respect to their grievances by way of a negotiated commercial settlement. In total, the TWU has recovered more than $60,000 for its members in 2014 and paved the way for members to move on to the next stage of their careers. Of the four Unfair Dismissal applications that went to trial, one member, Mr Arne McDonald of TNT, has been reinstated into his former role/position and was awarded back pay for lost remuneration due to TNT’s Harsh, Unjust, Unfair and Unreasonable dismissal of Mr McDonald. The other three Unfair Dismissal matters are currently before the Fair Work Commission with an outcome likely to be provided before Christmas this year.Through applications to the Fair Work Commission, the TWU has also been able to assist members in reaching an outcome with respect to general workplace disputes or general protections (adverse action) claims. The TWU is currently before the Federal Court in a matter that is scheduled for hearing with respect to an alleged adverse action claim. The TWU is also awaiting further directions with respect to a potential Anti-Discrimination matter that will be heard before the Equal Opportunity Commission in the Supreme Court of South Australia.On top of all this, the TWU has also successfully negotiated 20 Enterprise Bargaining Agreements that not only deliver higher rates of pay for members but also ensure job security and fairer entitlements. As can be seen, the TWU has been working fiercely and tirelessly for its members to ensure that their rights at work are not only protected but fought for! However, as effective as we may be in a court room, nothing stands as powerful as a united and unionised workforce. This is why the TWU has enabled members in various companies to take protected industrial action in the form of work bans, limitations and even work stoppages. By activating these powers, members of the TWU have not only been able to secure higher rates of pay but they have ensured that they will get a fair deal for years to come.Overall, 2014 has been a challenging year for everyone but with those challenges came many great opportunities and many more great outcomes. I look forward to fighting for the working men and women of the TWU in 2015 and I wish you all a merry Christmas and happy new year.

Transport Worker: Summer 2014

Documents

Transcript of Transport Worker: Summer 2014