Bus and coach operators will get a new industrial association in response to the recent nationalisation of industrial awards
By David Goeldner | June 24, 2010
Bus and coach operators will get a new industrial association in response to the recent nationalisation of industrial awards.
The association will be coordinated by the Bus Industry Confederation (BIC), and comprise the industry’s state associations and operator members.
BIC National Industrial Relations Manager Ian MacDonald says the association is being formed as a consequence of the Fair Work Act 2009.
“The new association will ensure that public transport employers are represented at the Fair Work Tribunal,” MacDonald says.
He says the association will give members collective participation in the development of industrial relations on a national basis.
BIC council members will meet soon to consider a set of rules to determine membership, MacDonald says.
To join the new association members must be federally-registered employers, which may include corporations.
MacDonald says the new association’s members must employ at least 50 employees in any six-month period.
“The primary purpose of the new association will be to represent and assist members in negotiations and settlement of disputes with employees,” he says.