Here’s a story for you to consider, the union working with drivers and winning a first time Enterprise Agreement.
Visa Global Logistics, now Mondiale, they pull containers for the ports and spent some time last year trying to reduce the rates drivers got paid.
Visa Company Executives wanted drivers’ wages to go backwards. An email kick in the teeth, was sent on a weekend, letting drivers know they were being reduced to award wages, no conversation, just being told.
Drivers at Visa came to the TWU to try and sort the problem out, joined the union and collectively saw back in the original rates and then took it further. After a management written, inferior, Enterprise Agreement was voted down by the yards, TWU Drivers took action which brought the company properly to the negotiating table. Visa was a company who said they would never do an enterprise agreement with the union and has now completed one.
It’s the first Enterprise Agreement the yards have had, This Agreement is about workers having the ability to hold Visa and Mondiale accountable. That means safety, and good working conditions in a yard.
The TWU is providing a united voice for drivers about the issues on the road and in your yards. We can negotiate for you, we like you are looking for the guarantee of secure and safe work in yards and on the road, whether you are an employee or an owner driver.
It’s these issues the TWU takes a stand on every day. With all the issues faced in our industry, we remain a part of many conversations, and we encourage you to join those conversations with us. A strong voice will continue to bring in the attention this industry needs.
There is a lack of truck rest stops, parking bays and unusable rest areas, the financial targeting of the driver on the road is relentless. How often are you fined at work for issues you have very little control over?
As an example of how the fight is on-going, we are looking into an issue at Tarcutta, the “truckie town” and a fight that’s developed over parking bays for trucks.
We are aware that residents are split over whether your heavy vehicles should be allowed to park on the main street, outside the Caltex and the Police Station.
Tarcutta is a busy place and getting busier, yet the changeovers have been taking place in the town for decades. In the meantime, according to the local paper, some locals are presenting the current parking situation as a hazard for kids and other people in the community.
The local community benefits from transport workers and the TWU is looking into a range of issues raised about parking. We know that you need somewhere to pull up, use a bathroom, get food, rest. Watch this space.
Come and join the conversation our industry is having, call 1800 729 909 to talk about how you can be a part of that conversation.