By Erica Haines
ADELAIDE — Members of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union are preparing for a long dispute with the South Australian government over the contracting out of TransAdelaide's bus routes.
At a stop-work meeting on January 31, union members authorised their executive to take whatever action is necessary to ensure that their wages and conditions are automatically transferred to the new, private bus operators, due to take over on April 23.
RTBU organiser Ray Hancox told Green Left Weekly, "There are specific provisions under the Workplace Relations Act which state that in situations of outsourcing or privatisation of contracts, employees' wages and conditions have to be protected. This has already been proven in three Federal Court cases."
The state government, however, is unwilling to accept this. The union has filed an injunction with the Federal Court, but has advised its members that, if the matter isn't resolved before the April 23 takeover, they should accept the current conditions.
"There is no way of knowing how long the court process will take", Hancox said, "and we will be fighting for all entitlements to be reinstated and employees back-paid accordingly".
Transport minister Diana Laidlaw has stated that the majority of workers will be employed by the private operators and "only" 240 will miss out. Similar claims were made in 1997 when private operator Serco took over Australian National Railway Services, but only 30% of AN staff gained employment.
Employees who accept "targeted separation packages" now have access to their State Superannuation Fund entitlements and are immediately eligible for re-employment with the state government and private bus operators (previously, re-employment was subject to a three-year waiting period).
This may appear enticing, until you "read between the lines", Hancox says. Only redeployees will be eligible to stay in the State Superannuation Fund, and those who transfer to the new operators will not have immediate access to their entitlements. These conditions could save the government millions of dollars, with the workers paying the price.
The union has demanded that the government pass legislation to ensure employees' awards and superannuation entitlements are continued when the private operators take over. Laidlaw has insisted that the government has no role in negotiating future employment conditions under the new operators.
The RTBU will call another stop-work meeting if the government does not come up with a satisfactory response.