A leading QC has agreed to act as mediator in the long running enterprise bargaining dispute between TAG and the TWU
August 31, 2011
TransLink has reissued an offer for one Australia’s top mediators to resolve an ongoing industrial dispute on the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast.
TransLink CEO Peter Strachan says respected QC Ian Hanger AM had agreed to act as a mediator to help resolve the ongoing dispute between Transit Australia Group, operators of Sunbus and Surfside, and the Transport Workers’ Union.
“Two weeks ago we offered the services of one of Australia’s best mediators, recognised around the world as a first-class alternative dispute resolution lawyer,” Strachan says.
“Today I’ve re-issued the offer and I urge both parties to sit down and seek a resolution.”
Strachan says TransLink is not party to the dispute as bus drivers are employed under a Federal award the contractual wage increases are in line with the Federal Wage Cost Index.
“Therefore both parties need to come to agreement or accept arbitration,” he says..
“These disruptions have gone on for too long and it is affecting the lives of too many TransLink customers who use and rely on public transport for school, work or simply getting around.”
Hanger has conducted more than 2000 mediations since 1990.
He was admitted to the Bar in Queensland in 1968 and has been a Queen’s Counsel since 1984.
In 1995 he was appointed a Fellow of Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators Australia and given highest grading of arbitrator.
He is an Accredited Alternative Dispute Resolution specialist of the Bar Association of Queensland and court appointed case appraiser and mediator.
Hangar has also worked as a mediator for the International Court of Arbitration for Sport and as an arbitrator for China International Economic and Trade Commission.
TransLink has been advised by operators Surfside, Sunbus and Veolia Queensland that TWU members will stop work for 24 hours from 4am tomorrow, Thursday September 1, with service levels varying from region to region across southern Queensland.