Union says abolition of the tribunal will have impact on hundreds of drivers
The Transport Workers Union (TWU) has again asked the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT) to defer the Contractor Driver Minimum Payments Road Safety Remuneration Order 2016 (RSRO) until all outstanding issues related to the Order are addressed.
The move reiterates an effort before the RSRT’s Easter hearings but with a later date than the October 1 originally sought.
The union’s application includes a proposal to delay the first phase of the Order to January 1.
“The application also seeks a ruling to ensure transport operators are paid by clients within 30 days of completing work, that changes be made to the current Order on split loads and back loads and that a mechanism be included to adjust the rates in line with fuel prices,” a TWU statement reads.
“Full transparency is also been sought for client contracts to ensure they allow for all costs to be covered by transport operators including employee driver minimum rates, insurance, maintenance of fleets, superannuation and fuel.”
Referring to prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s pledge to push for the abolition of the RSRT, TWU national secretary Tony Sheldon says today’s application “is in line with what we were trying to agree with industry before Turnbull got involved in this debate and turned road safety into a political football.
“This Order can be fixed to address concerns but we will not be serving the interests of the trucking community by axing the one body which is tackling their problems.”
The union says “drivers from the cash delivery sector, ports, delivery of fuel, waste, retail and manufacturers will lose out if the tribunal is abolished, with investigations ongoing in these sectors”.