Aurizon seeks to terminate enterprise agreements in Qld

Group says 'meaningful progress' not achieved during negotiations.

Aurizon seeks to terminate enterprise agreements in Qld

Rail freight operator Aurizon will apply to the Fair Work Commission to terminate 14 existing enterprise agreements with its Queensland workforce.

The move follows over 70 days of bargaining, during which Aurizon says "meaningful progress" has not been achieved.

Current agreements, which nominally expired in December last year, were made before Aurizon’s privatisation in 2010 and place "significant and unreasonable" pressure on the company, it said.

"While the negotiations have produced in principle agreement on some clauses, no agreement has been reached on significant changes on legacy practices and conditions, such as hours of work, rostering, the removal of the no forced redundancies clauses or free rail travel,” the freight hauler said. “This is despite Aurizon proposing a 4 per cent wage increase per year for three years."

Meanwhile, in New South Wales, Aurizon has formally lodged its new enterprise agreement with the Fair Work Commission, following employees’ vote to accept it last month.