Unions, Queensland Rail end mammoth 7hr meeting no closer to deal
The ongoing Queensland Rail labor dispute is no closer to resolution as both sides agreed to return to the table after a marathon 7.5-hour mediation session at the Fair Work Commission in Brisbane ended in deadlock.
Unions and Queensland Railways marched to the commission’s Eagle Street offices for a closed-door hearing at 10.30am on Thursday.
Union representatives showed up just after 5pm as the sun was setting over Brisbane and were no closer to a deal.
Rail, Tram and Bus Union Queensland state secretary Peter Allen said Thursday’s talks had been a difficult process, with no real progress made and it could take six weeks to resolve all the issues.
“I’m an optimistic person, but I would like to see a little more progress,” he said.
“But as we said, progress is often measured in retrospect, so I guess we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Allen said the unions had agreed to return to the Fair Work Commission on Friday for further talks, and that those talks had so far been “sensible, occasionally robust but fairly basic discussions”.
RTBU was one of seven unions engaged in enterprise bargaining with Queensland Rail. One of the sticking points was Queensland Railways’ insistence on bargaining with unions as a bloc rather than independently.
About 25 minutes later Queensland Rail general manager Kat Stapleton told waiting media they had yet to see a record of a “reduced and reasonable” claim.
“We will be back tomorrow at 1 p.m. to receive what I hope will be a revised and reasonable offer,” he said Thursday evening.
Like Allen, Stapleton did not go into detail about what the commission discussed Thursday but said he was hopeful for a solution despite Thursday’s lack of progress.
“People need us to deliver services and I truly believe people will find a way to solve this and we will continue to provide a full service to the people of Queensland,” he said.
The industrial dispute has been simmering since the flashpoint on April 1, when Queensland Railways’ closure of passenger services left thousands of passengers stranded.
Although the government initially branded it “union sabotage”, a Fair Work Commission decision by Deputy Chairman Nicholas Lake later found that the disruption was “Queensland Rail’s own making” due to management’s refusal to accept part-time work.
With the Stafford by-election and the high-profile Magic Round next weekend, there is pressure on all sides to break the deadlock.
Previously, Deputy Prime Minister and Industrial Relations Minister Jarrod Bleijie maintained his combative stance against unions.
“We are in a fuel crisis and are asking Queenslanders to potentially use public transport if they can’t fuel their cars, yet unions have deliberately sabotaged the rail network, causing great distress to many Queensland families,” he said.
“It is their right to take industrial protected industrial action, but we as the government and Queensland are negotiating in good faith.
“I can tell the rail union that they want to talk about the strike, that they want to make a deal.”
