QR workers subsidiary agreement finalised

Andrew Martin, Brisbane

On April 4, the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) certified a subsidiary enterprise agreement between Queensland Rail and maintenance workers employed at QR's Rolling Stock and Component Services (RACS) workshops, ending a long-running pay dispute. Pay rises of 6.62% over three years will begin in the pay week beginning April 24.

The QIRC had threatened to enforce return-to-work orders requested by QR if the unions covering the maintenance workers did not call off further industrial action.

While many maintenance workers are unhappy with the deal — 35% voted against it in a secret ballot conducted in the week of March 6-10 — it is the first time a subsidiary agreement for RACS has been certified. Many maintenance and manufacturing workshops in Queensland have struggled to secure 2.5-3% pay rises for a three-year period.

In order to salvage what was on the negotiating table, the RACS combined-unions disputes committee recommended no further industrial action and the acceptance of QR's position on bonuses and a series of "reforms" that management put forward. These include the aggregation of allowances paid at a flat rate of $0.63 per hour for all employees regardless of the work being undertaken or the hazards or conditions that workers are subject to.

The subsidiary agreement also includes a clause that allows supplementary labour (labour hire) to be used "to meet specific requirements of the business from time to time".

[Andrew Martin is a member of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and a maintenance fitter at QR's Redbank workshops.]

From Green Left Weekly, April 26, 2006.

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From GLW issue 665