EA vote outcome 30 January 2023

We’re very pleased our people have overwhelmingly voted “yes” to the financial boosts and many other benefits we put forward as part of the new Enterprise Agreement.

This is a great result. The new agreement offers so many benefits for our people – wage increases and the one-off payment, condition improvements, health and wellbeing benefits, including better support for carers.

We also have a clear and agreed path forward to getting our new Mariyung fleet on the network – a great outcome for our customers.

Arbitration

Next week we proceed to arbitration of the outstanding issues related to the wage increase and the application of a hazardous waste allowance.

As part of our in-principle agreement with the Combined Rail Unions, there are two matters that will be considered by the Fair Work Commission (FWC). These are:

  • Wage and Allowance increases: The wage and allowance increases stated in the proposed Enterprise Agreement 2022 have been set as the minimum increase. The FWC will determine whether a higher amount above the minimum should apply.
  • Cleaning Allowance: FWC is determining whether a hazardous waste allowance is payable to Customer Service Attendants and Onboard Staff.

Arbitration will commence on 8 February 2023. We will provide updates as we progress.

Implementation of benefits and conditions

Over the next few weeks, subject to the FWC’s consideration of the Enterprise Agreement, you’ll receive updates on the approval of your new Enterprise Agreement and implementation of the many new and improved benefits and conditions.

The expected timeline for some of the financial benefits is below:

  • The one-off payment of $4,500 is expected to take approximately two weeks for employees, subject to your pay cycle to receive from today’s successful vote.
  • The first year pay increase and backpay will be processed when the agreement comes into effect following approval of the agreement by FWC or the final arbitration on this matter – whichever comes later.

Getting to this point has come with its challenges, but it is now time to look to the future and focus on what we do best – supporting our customers to get to where they need to go, safely and reliably.