The TWU says it will appear in the commission with Toll to help resolve claims of the latter undermining workers
The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) says both it and Toll Transport will appear in the Fair Work Commission (FWC) over a dispute surrounding Toll allegedly attempting to undermine workers.
The TWU says Toll is justifying a process that will allegedly undermine industry conditions for thousands of workers and will allow companies to continually undermine the provisions in the Road Transport and Distribution award.
The TWU says Toll has applied to the FWC to vary the Road Transport and Distribution award and make changes to penalty rates for shift workers in transport on non-continuous afternoon or night shifts.
The company is asking for these changes to be backdated to 2010.
Toll initially committed to fix the problem and promised to back pay underpaid workers at a site in Tomago, but with underpayments running into the millions at one site, the company has instead headed to the Commission to change the award.
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“We would expect more from an industry leader, instead because Toll was caught out underpaying workers, it wants to make changes that would affect the entire industry, leaving workers out of pocket and fuelling a race to the bottom,” TWU state secretary Richard Olsen says.
“We will fight to ensure penalties continue to apply to workers as set out in the current Award provisions.”
The TWU says it expects more from Toll, which should be working constructively with drivers and the TWU to lift conditions and support industry calls for an independent federal body to set fair standards.