Government causes rail crisis

Sydney commuters are in limbo as rail workers prepare to take 
industrial action over the Carr Government's determination to 
blame them for the problems besetting Sydney's rail services. 
"For too long the government has tried to shift the blame onto 
workers. It's not on", Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union 
Secretary Paul Bastian said.

Mr Bastian, whose union represents maintenance workers at 
RailCorp, lambasted the government for failing to maintain 
adequate investment in rail infrastructure.

Industrial action by united rail unions is looming as RailCorp 
management refuse to shift from a "take it or leave it" approach 
to enterprise bargaining negotiations.

Bosses get rise

These developments come as RailCorp senior management pockets pay 
rises of up to $15,000 a year for presiding over the chaotic 
system.

And because the Government and the Daily Telegraph target 
rail staff, blaming them for the system's shambles, frontline 
workers have been bearing the brunt of a "train rage" epidemic.

Union leaders have called on the public not to blame staff for 
the system's failings.

Commuter action

Meanwhile, commuter anger has coalesced into a refuse-to-pay-day 
scheduled for Monday, November 22.

The campaign has been organised by Rebecca Turner from the Sydney 
suburb of Carlingford. Ms Turner is appealing to disgruntled 
commuters to protest against the state of Sydney's train system 
by refusing to buy a ticket on the 22nd.

"We support the public campaign over poor service and understand 
their difficulties", Unions NSW Secretary, John Robertson, said.

"Public inquiries at stations tell us there will be thousands of 
people turning up without tickets on Monday November 22. This 
will result in commuters arriving without tickets creating 
potentially unsafe situations on the stations, which may require 
station staff to open automatic barriers to facilitate the safe 
movement of passengers.

"It would be impossible for Transit Officers to issue fines for 
thousands of commuters.

"We would expect them to assist in safely moving people."

Rebecca Turner has set up an email address for frustrated 
commuters to get in touch with her campaign. The email address is 
angrycommuter@hotmail.com

Long suffering Sydney rail users face the troubles because of the 
intransigence of the Carr Government which is attempting to 
scapegoat rail workers for the system's problems.

"They've blamed wet weather, hot weather, cold weather, windy 
weather, trees and train drivers", says Nick Lewocki from the 
Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU). "The only people left to blame 
are the passengers.

"What will they do next, suggest that the system operate without 
passengers so the trains can run on time?"

RailCorp staff have reject management claims that late or non-
existent train services are the fault of drivers taking sickies. 
RailCorp's attempts to "demonise" staff came after the parties 
failed to reach agreement on enterprise bargaining negotiations.

Sticking points include family-friendly leave provisions, 
rosters, equal penalty payments for all employees, quick 
resolution of disciplinary procedures (which can currently drag 
on for 18 months) and a move by RailCorp to split rail 
maintenance workers onto two agreements.

Mr Lewocki confirmed industrial action was likely.

"While the government maintains its current position union 
officials have a mandate to call industrial action", he said.

The beleaguered rail system reached meltdown earlier this month 
when not one afternoon service ran within four minutes of 
timetable and several didn't show up at all.

Newspapers were full of letters from angry patrons whose plans 
had been thrown into disarray by late or non-existent services. 
Trains are just as unreliable on weekends, even after management 
slashed weekend services by 40 percent.

In the wake of a rush hour shambles two weeks back, staff reacted 
angrily to management suggestions that they were responsible for 
the system's flaws.

The RTBU says it is concerned that the industrial relations 
agenda of the Carr Labor Government is based on the same criteria 
as RailCorp's agenda and will result in the same chaos that is 
facing the people of Sydney that use the rail network.

"Donkey Kong"

Rail unions are also alarmed about RailCorp's lax approach to 
safety, especially when management introduced a makeshift method 
for testing drivers. Labelled "Donkey Kong" by the workers, 
RailCorp are using what are known as psychometric tests. The 
unions say these are not designed to test driver safety, but to 
give RailCorp management an excuse not to invest in safety 
infrastructure, such as an adequate communications system and 
proper training.

Meanwhile, a purpose-built, $21 million simulator sits idle at 
Petersham.

Experts called in to examine the RailCorp tests asked why a train 
driver simulation wasn't being used to test drivers.

One of the tests inflicted on drivers involves a computer game-
style process using what looks like an oversize Game Boy to 
"test" your brain.

"This would be great if we were getting Donkey Kong to drive our 
trains, but luckily we deal with real people", commented Mr 
Lewocki. "We have had members who have, out of their own pocket, 
had themselves re-tested, only to find that RailCorp's tests were 
way off the mark."