Road minister's plan to shift back-office RMS staff to frontline heavy vehicle inspection operations leads to accusations of job cuts
October 30, 2013
Back-office workers in the ranks of the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) are being pushed to take on new roles to bolster heavy vehicle inspection services.
New South Wales Roads Minister Duncan Gay wants to restructure the make-up of his department by giving “pen pushers” the choice of becoming full-time inspectors or taking a voluntary redundancy.
The move has drawn the ire of the Public Service Association (PSA) of NSW, which claims the Government’s decision to remove back-office roles will result in up to 21 heavy vehicle inspection jobs being cut. Gay has dismissed the charge as “absolute lies”.
“There are no cuts to frontline inspectors in NSW. NSW has 300 frontline inspectors,” he says.
“It is overmanaged in the department and we are giving Public Service Association members a choice either to take voluntary redundancy or to go on to the frontline. It is a simple choice.”
The NSW branch of the Australian Trucking Association (ATA NSW) supports Gay’s approach to increase the number of heavy vehicle inspectors. ATA NSW Manager Jodie Broadbent believes the move will help catch rogue drivers.
“ATA NSW and its members support the increase of on-road enforcement officers by RMS,” she says.
“The recent increase in heavy vehicle authorised inspection stations means RMS resources can be better utilised to ensure operators who act illegally are held accountable.”
The PSA earlier this week claimed a loss of 21 jobs would mean up to 500 fewer trucks would be inspected every week.
“Slashing heavy vehicle inspection roles at RMS means there are less people checking vehicles are safe to be on NSW roads,” PSA Senior Industrial Officer Ian Lambert says.
“The PSA calls on the NSW Government to abandon plans to cut staff involved with heavy vehicle inspection activities across the state.”
Meanwhile, Broadbent has thrown her support behind ATA Chairman David Simon’s proposal for chain of responsibility laws to be extended to truck maintenance and for electronic stability (ESC) to be mandated for some dangerous goods vehicles.
“Minister Gay needs to implement the five point plan announced by ATA Chairman on Monday,” she says.
Along with extending chain of responsibility and mandating ESC, Simon’s plan includes supporting a review of the National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme (NHVAS), adopting a new approach to heavy vehicle crash investigations and establishing a national database of coronial recommendations about road safety.