Article: End to driver dispute

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From the Melbourne Age click here!

End to driver dispute

End to driver dispute

    * Reid Sexton
    * April 5, 2009

CONNEX is set to end its bitter feud with train drivers by agreeing to a 15 per cent pay rise for drivers in a deal it says will cut Melbourne's rail cancellations by more than a third.

The proposed agreement promises relief for commuters who have endured months of often needless cancellations caused by in-fighting between Connex and some of its drivers.

Under the deal, a new definition of what is a serious fault will mean that trains with minor problems will be kept running. Minor faults caused 35 per cent of train cancellations last year, according to Connex.

"We are on the verge of an agreement that is a landmark for the industry," Connex chairman Jonathan Metcalfe told The Sunday Age. "It's an enormous breakthrough for passengers."

The deal, expected to be signed by the end of the month, will mark the end of a dispute that has left tens of thousands of people stranded on station platforms.

Since December, drivers have fought with Connex management and controllers over who logs train faults in the system.

The dispute prompted Connex to accuse the drivers' union of deliberately mounting an overzealous fault-finding campaign that led to the cancellation of hundreds of services in December and January.

Drivers denied the claims, but the feud went public in February when a stand-off between drivers and controllers meant all services on the Sandringham line stopped for nine hours.

Connex eventually brought the matter before the Industrial Relations Commission, which is still hearing the case.

The new collective agreement between Connex and the union will lock in the role of train controllers in logging faults - a move that should calm tension between the parties - while downgrading the seriousness of up to 1500 of the network's 5000-odd potential faults.

In return for operating trains with minor faults, drivers will receive a 15 per cent pay rise over three years regardless of whether Connex continues to run the system after the new train operating contract is announced mid-year. The pay rise is generous in the current economic climate and compares with a 2.5 per cent rise the State Government has offered public servants.

Many of the changes being negotiated between Connex and the rail union relate to equipment faults in the spare drivers' cabins in the middle two cars of a six-car train.

All Connex trains are made up of three-car sets, but because they are almost always combined to form six-car sets, the issue of faults to mirrors and other equipment in the spare cabins is not critical and will no longer spark an immediate withdrawal.

Connex chairman Jonathan Metcalfe said safety would not be compromised because the changes dealt only with minor faults and they would still be dealt with, if not immediately. He said the overhaul to the fault rules had been pushed because the rail system, which has had a 46 per cent increase in patronage in four years, had nearly reached capacity.

The union agreement plus new infrastructure and trains - due to start arriving late this year - would help the network cope with future demand.

Connex group general manager of operations Sean Bonham said the agreement would cut cancellations by allowing repairs to be done out of normal running hours. He said the rail operator had wanted to change the fault-reporting protocols since it took over part of the network 10 years ago, but practices built up over many years were hard to alter.

RMIT transport academic Paul Mees said the changes would improve services. Melbourne trains were currently taken out of service if there was a broken air-conditioner in one carriage, whereas overseas it would stay in service until day's end, he said.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union state secretary Trevor Dobbyn confirmed the deal was close but refused to elaborate on the relaxation of fault reporting.