Rail union points to discrepancy in company’s evidence to Fair Work Commission
Rail operator Aurizon’s hopes that its enterprise agreement troubles were being surmounted have been dashed, at least in the short term.
Aurizon hailed Fair Work Commission (FWC) progress last month in its bid for three new enterprise agreements to take the place of 14 old ones.
But now the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU), one of six unions involved in FWC proceedings, has gained a reopening of proceedings after claiming the commission after pointing to discrepancies in Aurizon’s representations.
“Over Christmas, Aurizon tried to block protected industrial action on the grounds that EA negotiations were underway and the parties had a good chance of reaching agreement,” RTBU national secretary Bob Nanva says
“But only a few weeks earlier, at hearings into Aurizon’s bid to terminate 14 Enterprise Agreements, the company claimed negotiations were at an impasse and the only solution was to go nuclear.”
Aurizon rejects the accusation saying it was outweighed by the reform that the FWC agreed to covering 1,400 employees in Queensland..
“Aurizon has acted entirely consistently in matters before the FWC, with the core objective of negotiating new enterprise agreements for employees,” a spokesperson says.
“Aurizon will continue to represent its case in the FWC for the termination of the outstanding agreements but will not provide a running commentary of matters before the Commission.
“Aurizon has urged the RTBU on numerous occasions not to take industrial action and to address matters in good faith at the bargaining table.
“We are pleased that Aurizon and unions are now back at the bargaining table.”
The firm says the new agreement “removes a range of outmoded legacy provisions with contemporary work arrangements”, while furnishing 4 per cent yearly pay increases, from January 28.
In the last 12 months, Aurizon has also renegotiated one agreement in New South Wales and two in Western Australia.
Of the 7,000 employees in Aurizon nationally, “approximately half are now on contemporary EAs”.