By Peter Perkins
SYDNEY — "It is necessary to make a thorough examination of all operations of the Authority to see where savings can be made. This is under way and your co-operation is imperative. The future of railways is the responsibility of management, unions and individual staff members and each will have to play a constructive role in steering us through the present difficult period." — David Hill, October 1982.
Hatchet Hill is back! David Hill has returned to the deck of a fast-sinking State Rail, which he abandoned some 10 years ago.
There is no nostalgia for the Hill days. His record includes the closure of the parcels division, privatisation and closure of TCS (train catering division), closure of Eveleigh workshops, removal of the guards' van, closure of several country branch lines and massive job losses and redeployment in other sections.
The outgoing chief, Len Harper, from the ranks of the right-wing ALP, in similar vein, moved faster than any Liberal appointee possibly could have towards the ultimate goal, privatisation of State Rail. He has all the new corporations and authorities set up ready for delivery to the private sector.
Because of low hourly rates, workers have relied on overtime to bring home a living wage. This sometimes meant shift work and hours commonly in excess of 120 per fortnight.
Bang! Overtime has been cut off without warning, cutting some disposable incomes in half. There have been no extra workers employed to make up for the lost hours, just added workloads for those on ordinary hours. The last pay rise was on an enterprise basis: some got pay rises while others missed out.
During these changes, Harper brought the unions on board. Their forte is the boardroom, where negotiation is replaced by implementation, where union bosses and corporate buddies meet and deal on a first-name basis.
Some $140 million is rumoured to be cut from the next rail budget of $1.4 billion. Through a change in accounting procedures, it was announced that State Rail was running over budget to the tune of $200 million, although this probably would have been the normal amount of extra funding in reasonable times.
Now it is grounds for cuts to services, decimation of the work force, delays to the maintenance program, cancellation of the Olympian (replacement for the ageing suburban silver double decker trains), which should have been ready for the Sydney Olympics.
The last couple of state budgets have cut rail funding in real terms, while road funding has increased.
Fares are now tipped to rise 15%. Also, a recent report into CountryLink train services by the Pricing Tribunal recommended that further cuts be made to country train services in favour of "efficient" buses and the closure of CountryLink offices. Too many pensioners weren't paying their way. This recommendation was placed in the too hard basket by the Carr government, because there are many marginal seats involved. But after the next election?
Unions and bosses
A few months ago Nick Lewocki was seconded from the Labour Council to the Public Transport Union. Lewocki could best be described as PTU director without portfolio and also without the democratic anointing by the rank and file.
Amongst the ranks, "sold out" is a commonly used term. While our union leaders have been hobnobbing with the bosses (implementing Labor's policy), they have lost touch with the aspirations of the ranks, and they don't care.
In all quarters workers are asking to be consulted about workplace changes and introduction of new technology. The ears of our representatives are deaf to the cries of the democratic majority. Bombshell after bombshell is dropped on workers, without discussion, without consultation and without concern for the future.
There is no vision, no defence, just an all-pervading paranoia rooted in retaining power at all cost. The PTU has become secretive, suspicious of the rank and file. We're all too radical — "ratbags", to be exact.
We' ve argued and shouted in meetings for committees to be set up amongst the workers, we've rejected the proposals that the unions have waved in the air, and we've been promised that democracy would make a comeback so that we could defend ourselves. Instead, secret meetings have been held with hand-picked "project teams".
Issues that we reject are implemented via the back door. As the elected sub-branch secretary, I am denied information and never told of meetings. Non-elected lackeys and informers are placed in key positions where they can keep tabs on all activities.
A union meeting with management I inadvertently found out about, then attended, was revealing. It involved the wholesale sell-out of workers at Sydney Terminal. Many of the high ranking bosses of the SRA, PTU and Australian Services Union were there.
The SRA put up its proposal, which included redeployment of 50 "surplus staff ", no redundancy pay-outs, new job descriptions and duties for most workers, downgrading of some positions and the amalgamation of Sydney Terminal and Central Electric into Sydney Central. Cleaners were to be placed on moving trains around the City Circle, cleaning amongst passengers.
These were the proposals we had rejected just three months earlier. Yet from the conversation at this meeting and the body language of the union officials, the workers never had a chance. The PTU officials fended off questions and points aimed at management, who needed to say nothing.
After a heated debate between the organiser and me, in the presence of the managers, he warned, "What we talked about here should not reach those outside. It's explosive out there; one small spark will spread like wildfire. This could lead to industrial action, and we don't want that, do we?"
"Why not?" I yelled at him.
He didn't answer.
The union's defence is that the document is just a "proposal". But given the secrecy that surrounds it and the manner in which discussion took place, it looks like a foregone conclusion.
Poor service
Trains are running late, due to regular breakdowns and staff shortages. There is a shortage of rolling stock, which at times necessitates delay if a train is defective or late arriving. Work practices can't fix those problems; only extra funding can.
Many of the trains that break down can't be fixed promptly because the SRA doesn't have tradesmen on hand. Companies that do maintenance are out to make a profit; faster turnaround on maintenance means bigger profits.
Trains have been delayed due to shortage of train crews. Rostering is so tight that if a crew are late coming back from their previous trip, the train they are next due to take out will be delayed until they arrive.
Now is the time to be building within the ranks. Workers have few illusions about the role of PTU union officials and the reason for their lower standards of living, lack of health and safety on the job, the lack of a say in the implementation of workplace change, extra workloads and so on. Those rail workers I work with form part of the working poor.
Now it is easier than at any other time to make new alliances, form new committees of defence. Workers are talking again, and the talk is of their predicament. Sooner or later these self-seeking union officials must deliver the deal that they have been planning along with their party bosses. We must be ready by then!