Truckies walk off the job after negotiations break down with Toll Tasmania
Angry truckies walked off the job on Friday, after negotiations with their employers at Toll Tasmania turned sour. LATEST >>
Tasmania
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Angry truckies walked off the job on Friday, after negotiations with their employers at Toll Tasmania turned sour.
Nearly 100 Transport Workers’ Union members went on strike at the Toll headquarters in Brighton, alongside more than 300 other Toll workers across the state.
Union delegate John Leamey, who has worked for Toll for over 17 years, said the company’s proposed workplace agreement put all of their jobs at risk.
Mr Leamey said the enterprise agreement put loyal, longstanding full-time truck drivers at risk of being replaced by lower-paid workers on casual and fixed-term contracts.
“We’re worried that heading into the future Toll indicated that they were going to force the issue with the casualisation of the workforce and slowly but surely getting rid of permanent employees.
“This is all about job security and keeping the terms and conditions that the people before us have fought for.”
Fellow truckie Pat Spaulding said the offer put forward by Toll was unacceptable, and that they would strike even harder unless better conditions were offered.
“We’re hoping there’ll be a compromise reached in the next week, but if not we might need to increase our action,” Mr Spaulding said.
“We don’t want to be on strike, but if Toll gets what they want, we lose all our terms and conditions. We won’t have job security that we’re afforded under EBA.”
Toll’s Global Express president Alan Beacham said they would not be swayed by union “bullying”, insisting that their terms were very reasonable.
He said Toll workers were among the best-paid in the sector, and that Toll had already offered to raise their wages by a further two per cent.
“Toll will not be bullied by the union. We will not allow the Australian public to be held to ransom at the behest of the TWU leadership,” Mr Beacham said.
“In the last three years, despite challenging conditions and a reduction in revenue, Toll has reduced its use of casuals and fleet operators by over 30%. This is a clear demonstration to our commitment to put permanent employees first, contrary to the claims that the TWU is putting about.”
Mr Beacham said Toll only intended to hire fixed-term employees for “genuine purposes” and for a maximum period of two years.
However, TWU’s chief Toll negotiator Richard Olsen said there was no reassurance that their full-time workers would not be replaced by cheap, replaceable labour.
“There is no grey area when it comes to job security. Either the jobs are secure Toll jobs, or they aren’t,” Mr Olsen said.
“Toll’s proposal makes clear that if workers signed onto it, good, permanent jobs would become a thing of the past, to be replaced by a second-grade, insecure workforce.”
EARLIER: Hundreds of Tassie truckies go on strike as negotiations take a toll
Laurie Hoskins is one of some 400 Tassie truckers going on strike on Friday.
The truck driver of 45 years said he and other union members were in negotiations with Toll.
Transport Workers’ Union Victoria and Tasmania secretary John Berger said the union was pushing for Toll to guarantee the jobs of truck drivers amid claims Toll had planned to establish a new set of workers doing the same work for less pay.
“It’s simply divisive,” he said.
“If they were to agree to ratios of full time employment and outside hire (and) precarious employment then we’d be prepared to look at it, but that’s just not on the table.”
The TWU said 94 per cent of workers voted in favour of the action.
Mr Berger said a memorandum of understanding between TWU and Toll to defer bargaining for 12 months during Covid-19 had ended.
He said the strike action, which will be held across Australia, would not impact the delivery of medical supplies or vaccines, but would disrupt food and fuel supplies.
Toll Group subsidiary Global Express president Alan Beacham said Toll had the best enterprise bargaining agreement “in the entire industry”.
“One thing we and the union do agree on – our employees deserve a pay rise,” he said.
“We’ve put a generous offer on the table and are committed to further discussion.
“Instead of attacking Toll at the top of the sector, why aren’t the TWU going after the bottom of the sector to raise the standards there?”