A Metro-Link strike has been cancelled and alleged company threats to withdraw services have been retracted: TWU
March 22, 2013
A Metro-Link employee strike planned for today has been cancelled following allegations company management threatened to withdraw all services, including services to about 60 schools.
The Fair Work Commission yesterday intervened to assist with ongoing negotiations, which turned sour
after Metro-Link declined to commit to a new enterprise agreement.
According to the TWU, Metro-Link and the union have now come to an interim agreement.
Services to local schools, including Cecil Hills Primary School, Liverpool Boys and Girls High Schools and Bonnyrigg Primary Schools would have been affected if the interim agreement had not been made.
The TWU also alleges Metro-Link threatened to stop providing all bus services from April until the end of its contract with the NSW Government in October 2013.
The alleged threats reportedly came in response to TWU members unanimously voting to take a 12-hour stoppage today, following more than 12 months of protracted negotiations.
TWU NSW State Secretary Wayne Forno says union members at Metro-Link have not received a pay rise since July 2011.
“The negotiations with bus operators who service Sydney Metropolitan contracts have been difficult, particularly following the announcement in mid-2012 by the NSW Government that all contracts would be put out to tender,” Forno says.
Metro-Link management have not returned phone calls from Busnews staff, but it is understood the company is facing commercial difficulties.