Gold Coast Commonwealth Games public transport: Train drivers get bonus for turning up
A DEAL struck by unions and Queensland Rail will see train drivers get a one-off payment of $1250 for simply for showing up to work during the Commonwealth Games. And that’s not the only benefit.
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TRAIN drivers will get a $1250 one-off bonus simply for turning up to work during this April’s Commonwealth Games and more than double their pay for working on days off.
The lump-sum payment will only be paid if all rostered train crew — including train guards — show up on the days they are rostered during the Games period.
Drivers will also get a 225 per cent penalty rate for shifts worked on their rostered days off.
And some other Queensland Rail frontline workers, from platform staff to network response teams, will be able to claim an extra $8 an hour if they work all their shifts during the event.
The generous Games “incentive payments” have been negotiated with the rail unions in a bid to avoid a repeat of the 2016 network meltdown.
Train crew, which includes drivers and guards and other frontline staff, have agreed to cap the amount of annual leave taken across the Games and Easter holidays in return.
A severe shortage of drivers caused the 2016 meltdown, with an independent inquiry in January 2017 linking a built-in shortage of train crew to the creation of overtime opportunities.
It recommended hiring a surplus of drivers, but progress has been slow with just 19 extra qualified drivers on QR’s books as of last January compared to at the time of the 2016 timetable collapse.
That has put drivers under pressure during the Games, when Gold Coast services will triple.
QR chief executive officer Nick Easy defended the move.
“It’s a small price to pay for assurance and confident around service delivery,” he said.
“I think this is prudent, I think it’s responsible and it is about delivering good services during what’s going to be a ... major event and very significant demands on our workforce.”
He said incentives were common for international events of this scale, with an extra six million trips expected across the transport network.
“Critical frontline staff including train crew, train controllers, overhead linesman, signal engineers, and station operations staff, will be going above and beyond to deliver a boost to rail services on the Gold Coast line, and we have worked closely with our employees to ensure their extra efforts and flexibility are recognised appropriately,” he said.
But Rail Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow likened the payment to a bribe.
“You’d think people would want to go to work and do the right thing anyway,” he said.
“We don’t agree with that in principle. The train crew are pretty well compensated. They get generous overtime, conditions aren’t bad, and on top of that an incentive payment?
“You’ve got to ask the question, are the doctors and nurses at the Gold Coast hospital going to be paid an incentive to come in and look after sick people?”
Train drivers earn $98,000 a year and last year won a 12 per cent pay rise over four years.
The incentive payment plans were first revealed by The Courier-Mail last November, with QR documents stating it was “aimed at maximising attendances and providing business flexibility”.
The Services Union branch secretary Neil Henderson, who represents station operations staff, said yesterday the deal reflected the fact rosters might change and the leave restrictions.
“There’s going to be significant pressures on the system and any prudent employer is going to make sure they have their ducks lined up for such a significant time. You only get one shot.”
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Queensland Rail was entitled to offer train drivers huge bonuses to show up to work for the Commonwealth Games.
Speaking this morning, Ms Palaszczuk said QR would be comfortably meeting their budget requirements, afforded to them by the State Government to ensure effective delivery of transport services for the Games.
“This is no different to what was provided for the Sydney Olympics and other sporting events that happen of this scale and this nature,” she said.
“There are two big issues we have for the Commonwealth Games — transport and security. We want to make sure that we deliver a very good experience for people that are coming to Queensland’s biggest event in decades and that is why the different agencies were given a budget and this is well within that.”
Ms Palaszczuk was unable to say how much had been budgeted to agencies for the staff bonuses but also revealed bodies such as Queensland Police had also been given a budget.
With consistent criticism of the transport network for the Games, Ms Palaszczuk said the bonuses were an effective use of tax payer money to ensure the rail system ran on time.
“We want to make sure the transport network works effectively and this is no different to what happened at the Sydney Olympics.”
Originally published as Gold Coast Commonwealth Games public transport: Train drivers get bonus for turning up
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