At the sub-branch, it’s been a great pleasure to spend time with so many of you in yards, report back meetings, negotiating committees, game-changing roundtables and forums, and at actions.
Just last week, I joined many of you once again for our Majors Bargaining Round 4 (MBR4) meeting, and the following action against Aldi. For some delegates in attendance, this was their first major delegates meeting. With hundreds of majors and retail delegates in attendance, this proved another successful opportunity to learn from each other and share industry updates as we collectively prepare for further negotiations into the winter.
Elsewhere in the sub-branch, our bus members are grabbing the bull by the horns, and their relentless efforts over the last several years are coming to a head with the achievement of a historic ruling in favour of Multi-Employer Agreement (MEA) negotiations going ahead. This hard-fought victory is a game-changer for our bus members, who will now be able to negotiate for fairer pay and conditions across the sector, stopping the race to the bottom, holding the NSW Government accountable as a client, and raising the floor where they are otherwise among the worst paid drivers in Australia.
The MEA work is only just beginning, but bus workers should be proud of this tremendous achievement.
Bus workers once again made themselves heard at last month’s Western Sydney Bus forum, a public-facing follow-up to December’s successful bus industry roundtable at the NSW Parliament. Employers, businesses, academics and Western Sydney Councillors, Mayors and MPs all joined TWU bus workers in listening to their lived experience. The forum proved an effective opportunity to discuss how important the bus sector is in helping Western Sydney thrive, and what can be done to make the sector more sustainable.
The next few months will be crucial as we take our claims to the wider public and prepare to hold the government accountable as the client in the bus industry.
Across transport, we’re working to lift everyone’s pay and conditions and put everyone in the driver’s seat for 2029. That will take solidarity and relentless effort, but I know our members are more than capable – they’ve won victories before and can do so again.
Once again, I’m looking forward to continuing to work with you all as we hold employers and clients to account this year, and fight for Our Roads, Our Skies, Our Future.
Robert Rasmussen • Sydney Central West Sub-branch