24-hour rail strike

By Geoff Spencer

MELBOURNE -- Suburban rail guards struck for 24 hours on March 3. A well-attended mass meeting the previous day voted unanimously for industrial action due to the lack of consultation in the implementation of automated fare collection and single person operated trains. These “reforms” will mean the loss of more than 1000 jobs.

Garry Walters, chairperson of the operations division in the Victorian branch of the Public Transport Union, told Green Left Weekly, “The introduction of [the changes] is going to affect mainly guards and station assistants in terms of job losses, but it will also have an impact on drivers”.

The PTU is facing a reduction in the number of its members. “At present, staffing levels for guards and station assistants have been allowed to fall below agreed levels. Even so, the 1500 working at present don't fit into the proposed 220 new Customer Service Employee jobs.” The new CSE position is something between a guard and a station assistant, with a greater emphasis on public relations.

“The union will be seeking to link up with community sectors to resist any serious decline in service quality, quantity and safety”, Walters said.

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