The union is continuing to fight safety concerns following a Supreme Court ruling
The South Australian arm of the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) says it is “appalled” that transport group Cleanaway only has to pay one quarter of its $12 million fine issued over safety breaches.
Cleanaway drivers in SA are fighting for pay and safety through enterprise bargaining, with the TWU SA slamming the Supreme Court’s decision to wave away six of the eight counts Cleanaway was convicted for over a South Eastern Freeway crash in 2014.
The TWU says Cleanaway continues to try slashing pay for its drivers through rostering changes and pay increases worth less than half of current inflation that will continue forcing drivers to work longer and faster.
The SA branch of the union says Cleanaway drivers are already struggling to manage fatigue and hold fears that this could worsen.
But yesterday the Supreme Court reduced Cleanaway’s initial fine for its involvement in the 2014 crash from $12 million to $3 million after finding six of the eight charges were too similar to be distinguished at law.
This reduction came despite the Supreme Court rejecting all grounds for appeal and upholding the finding that Cleanaway failed to eliminate or minimise the risk to drivers through inadequate training.
While this played out, the TWU SA says substandard pay and conditions at Cleanaway are adding to a labour shortage crisis resulting in drivers being refused annual leave to rest and being forced to rush on shifts.
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“Drivers have reported recently that training has almost entirely dropped off at Cleanaway in South Australia as the driver trainer is on the road to plug driver shortage gaps,” the TWU SA says.
In 2018, criminal charges against the Cleanaway driver involved in the 2014 crash were dropped when the driver said that he had never driven a manual heavy vehicle or driven the South Eastern Freeway before the crash and wasn’t supervised to do so.
An accident investigator also found the truck had faulty brake linings that should’ve been fixed before the crash occurred.
TWU SA/ NT branch secretary Ian Smith says Cleanaway is the largest waste company in Australia and government contracts are continuing to drive a race to the bottom on pay, conditions and safety.
“A $3 million fine is barely a slap on the wrist for this company,” Smith says.
“The biggest scandal out of this is that the same safety issues remain to this day and will get worse under Cleanaway’s latest proposal.”
Smith says TWU members will continue to fight against Cleanaway’s agenda and ensure safety standards and pay conditions are lifted to protect drivers.