RTBU wins on Pacific National attack on 5% DOO

Steve Wright on a Hunter Valley coal haul locomotive

Incorporation of this payment in the 2004 Pacific National Enterprise Agreement was the final issue resolved before the EA was concluded in February 2004. At the time, Pacific National workers had resolved to have rolling 24 hour stoppages if the company insisted on its plan to deduct the 5 per cent.

It was agreed that if DOO was not an operational option by December 31, 2004, the payment would be referred to independent arbitration.

Pacific National took the issue to a three-person panel, consisting of the Commissioner, an RTBU representative and a Pacific National representative, in December 2004.

"The argument was over whether or not the 5 percent was a pre-payment for DOO, and we don't think it was," said Steve Wright, President of the RTBU NSW Locomotive Division and Secretary of the Hunter Valley Locomotive Sub-Division. "We argued that the FreightCorp EBA only referred to 1 percent, which emerged out of the Job and Work Redesign process. It was for discussing early implementation of DOO with more to be paid on progress.

"Since 1998 we have done everything asked of us on DOO, but it hasn't worked out yet," Steve explained. "DOO trials have been ongoing, and we participate in a monthly DOO consultative meetings. We are doing time trials right now and evaluation trials of an End Of Train Monitor and a new Drivers Vigilance Control System that requires the driver to wear a watch and ring that monitors the driver's alertness and if the level falls too low the brakes are applied".

The trials were delayed because RailCorp and the signallers with the Australian Rail Track Corporation say they have not been party to the protocols for the trials. Back in 1998-99, everybody was involved in the Local Area Working Group for the DOO process. That included what was then Rail Access Corporation and Network Control, but since FreightCorp was privatised and Pacific National took over, and Waterfall - that consultation just stopped. "We have recommenced meetings with all relevant stakeholder representatives present. These include reps from ARTC, RailCorp, Pacific National, and RTBU. There are also a number of outstanding trials / tests yet to be completed before DOO can be implemented.

"On top of that, the McInerney Inquiry into Waterfall has been delayed twice, and his final report is not expected until early 2005, and no one is predicting exactly what the report will say about DOO," said Steve Wright.

"The RTBU has done everything we can, we haven't refused anything. It's out of our hands. We shouldn't lose this 5 percent, but we think Pacific National want to use it as part of their strategy up to the next Enterprise Agreement, which is due in July 2005".

The current proposal for DOO is to operate it on the parts of the network with automated signalling, from Newcastle up to Singleton first, and then to Muswellbrook later. Coal trains do operate to Werris Creek, a line with automated signalling, but there are not many train operations on it for the Whitehaven mine at Gunnedah. Newcastle to Singleton is 80 kilometres, and Muswellbrook is another 50 from there. The Australian Rail Track Corporation now controls the network, but has not said when it will take automated signalling to Ulan and beyond.

"We are frustrated about the DOO issue," said Steve Wright, "and we are happy to implement it, as long as it is proven to be safe. But the company doesn't seem to want to spend the money. If the company had been willing to improve the infrastructure and systems, we could already be working Driver Only.

"Our basic concerns are with communications and a secondary safety device. A viable Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system would be great. We don't see DOO as a threat to our jobs, because the agreement is for an 8 hour shift maximum for DOO, and NSW law is for an absolute maximum DOO shift of 9 hours".

On communications, the RTBU wants a broadcast capacity so that the Controller or a Driver can override other voices on the network in case of an emergency, and a robust off-train communications capacity for the Driver if he or she is outside the cab. Coal trains vary in length up to 1.5 kilometres and so the Driver can be 4 kilometres from the cab if they are placing protection 2.5 kilometres forward and behind the train.

The RTBU requires that the communications system sends an emergency signal when the Vigilance Control operates, indicating that the Driver is incapacitated, and the train is braking to a stop.

"The former National Rail locomotives have the communications capacity which the RTBU wants, but it is not available on the former FreightCorp locomotives. There is no major technical obstacle to changing the communications system software to enable these capacities, I believe," said Steve Wright.