Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well. Bus commuters across the Northern Territory are being warned
of major disruptions next week. Bus drivers plan to take
a twenty four hour strike on Monday, October twenty. It's
going to shut down the bus network across the Northern Territory. Now.
That action comes am to ongoing friction between operators and
staff over safety, working conditions and security, and the strike
(00:24):
is going to stall daily services right across Darwin, Casarina,
Palmerston and the rural roots. Now joining us on the
line is Sam Macintosh from the Transport Workers Union. Good
morning to you.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Sam, Morning Katie, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Thank you so much for your time. Now, Monday's twenty
four hour strike, it's going to bring public transport to
a halt. What's push drivers to take such drastic action.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Well, as you said in your introduction there, Katie, this
is a campaign that's all about trying to raise industry
standards for drivers. In fact, the bus industry in the territory.
We've been negotiating for a new agreement for the workforce
for sometime now, six plus months and unfortunately what's been
(01:12):
put in front of us is not going to elevate
standards to the extent that they need to be brought up.
And so we've been brought to this point. As you know,
this has been a campaign that's been running for weeks
and months, and we've been doing our best to highlight
these issues to the community and the stakeholders, open letters
(01:34):
on buses, high visibility vests with slogans. But unfortunately we're
at the same place and there's an urgency about this.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
So Sam, tell us what is it going to mean
on Monday? Like, is it literally anybody who would usually
catch the bus? I mean, I know my kids catch
the bus. Are they not going to be able to
from next Monday morning for twenty four hours?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
So there'll be a twenty four hour strike across the
urban route. Importantly, Katie, we won't be disrupting school bus
services and special needs services. We'll make sure that those
operations continue for the day, but every other service, yes,
the drivers will be on strike about this really important campaign.
(02:19):
This is a decision, as we've spoke about previously, that
we absolutely don't take lightly, and we know that this
will cause very significant disruption across the network and to
our passengers. And at the end of the day, the
reason why our members become bus drivers is because that
they love supporting our community and working with our community
(02:42):
every day providing a really important service. That's why we're
in this and that's why this is so important, because
we've got an industry at the moment where we know
things aren't safe enous, we know that standards have to
increase because we want to retain and attract drivers to
do this really important job. So this campaign, it's really
(03:03):
fundamental and for us, so important. And again, we just
want to make sure that the community really understands exactly
where we're coming from. And to that end, we want
to make clear that we're not going to affect the
school runs or the special needs runs, because we know
just how important they are. But at the same time,
you know, really asking that everyone understands that this situation
(03:27):
has to change, and we don't want to be in
a situation where I'm back speaking with you, Katie next
week saying well, we've still got the same battle and
we're actually going to have to up our up our actions.
That's not where we want to be.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
No same. When's the last time, Like, when's the last
time that this kind of action was taken?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I think it's been a long time that our drivers
in the territory have taken this level of action, Katie,
I mean, this is a this is a twenty four
hour strike, this is this is going to be a significant,
significant things for the network, and we're very mindful of that.
But at the same time, I think it highlights exactly
why this is so important.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
I'll be really blunt about this. People are gonna be pissed,
They're gonna be ropable that they're not able to, you know,
to catch their bus in the same way that they
ordinarily would. I mean, what could happen between now and
then to prevent this strike action from moving forward? Like
what exactly are you guys asking for what to make
(04:30):
sure that this maybe doesn't go ahead.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Well, you recall, Katie, that we've spoken a lot about
industry standards and what that means is, for example, when
drivers are working on a weekend or doing overtime work,
we want to make sure that their level of pay
and the conditions associated with that work are at industry standards. So,
for example, on Saturdays, most people will be familiar with
(04:55):
the idea that you get paid time in a half
or double time on a Sunday that's not currently the
case for drivers in the NT. There's no annual leave loading,
public holiday rates are lower than the rest of the industry,
So we've got a pretty significant gap that we have
to make up. But it's so fundamental, isn't it, because
(05:16):
our drivers do. I think what everyone would acknowledge is
now a very difficult and dangerous job. And it wasn't
always that way. It's used to be a great career.
It was a safe job where you can just freely
interact with your passengers on a daily basis. It is
now difficult and dangerous, and we see drivers getting physically assaulted,
verbally abused. We spoke the other week about rock attacks
(05:39):
when you're trying to look after a full bus load
of people that you really care about. So we need
to make sure that when our drivers are on the road,
they're looked after, both in terms of their safety, but
also that they're paying conditions are at least in line
with the rest of the industry, so that they know
that this job really is seen to be valued the
(06:03):
way it needs to be for our community. I take
your point. Maybe I know that I know that this
is a significant action that our workforce will be taking
But I would just encourage everyone to remember that we've
been on this journey for many months now and we've
tried to We've tried to highlight these issues as best
(06:26):
we can to both our community but also the stakeholders
that are involved to including the company of course, and
we're disappointed too that it's come to this point, and
we'd absolutely love to see a resolution that means that
we don't have to take these actions, but unfortunately that's
where we're at in the future of the industry is
(06:46):
just too important for us not to take a stand.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
So before I let you go, it has been announced
today that the Northern Territory government's going to be closing
the Darwin and Casuarina bus interchanges later this month, saying
it's a move to make the network. Say what's your
view on that decision and how it affects both workers
and passengers.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Look, Katie, we're always we're always in support of moves
that are going to make the network safe and encourage
people to use the network right around the day and night.
And so I think where the government is coming from
here is with a firm one, how do we create
a safer network? These are a couple of the initiatives
(07:28):
that have been worked on, but there are some others
too around increased security, CCTV cameras at hotspots. So from
our point of view as a union, we want to
see a safer network, not just for drivers but also
for our community. So I think if we're all heading
in that direction, that's a good thing. No doubt, more
discussions to be had, but certainly safety is just a
(07:52):
top priority, and you want to know as a driver
that at the end of every day you can go
home safely to your loved ones. And I would say
that exactly the same thing is true for any member
of the community that catches a bus well.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Transport Workers Union NT Branch Secretary Sam Macintosh thanks so
much for your time this morning. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Thank you, Katie, appreciate your time.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Thank you.
Well. Bus commuters across the Northern Territory are being warned
of major disruptions next week. Bus drivers plan to take
a twenty four hour strike on Monday, October twenty. It's
going to shut down the bus network across the Northern Territory. Now.
That action comes am to ongoing friction between operators and
staff over safety, working conditions and security, and the strike
(00:24):
is going to stall daily services right across Darwin, Casarina,
Palmerston and the rural roots. Now joining us on the
line is Sam Macintosh from the Transport Workers Union. Good
morning to you.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Sam, Morning Katie, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Thank you so much for your time. Now, Monday's twenty
four hour strike, it's going to bring public transport to
a halt. What's push drivers to take such drastic action.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Well, as you said in your introduction there, Katie, this
is a campaign that's all about trying to raise industry
standards for drivers. In fact, the bus industry in the territory.
We've been negotiating for a new agreement for the workforce
for sometime now, six plus months and unfortunately what's been
(01:12):
put in front of us is not going to elevate
standards to the extent that they need to be brought up.
And so we've been brought to this point. As you know,
this has been a campaign that's been running for weeks
and months, and we've been doing our best to highlight
these issues to the community and the stakeholders, open letters
(01:34):
on buses, high visibility vests with slogans. But unfortunately we're
at the same place and there's an urgency about this.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
So Sam, tell us what is it going to mean
on Monday? Like, is it literally anybody who would usually
catch the bus? I mean, I know my kids catch
the bus. Are they not going to be able to
from next Monday morning for twenty four hours?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
So there'll be a twenty four hour strike across the
urban route. Importantly, Katie, we won't be disrupting school bus
services and special needs services. We'll make sure that those
operations continue for the day, but every other service, yes,
the drivers will be on strike about this really important campaign.
(02:19):
This is a decision, as we've spoke about previously, that
we absolutely don't take lightly, and we know that this
will cause very significant disruption across the network and to
our passengers. And at the end of the day, the
reason why our members become bus drivers is because that
they love supporting our community and working with our community
(02:42):
every day providing a really important service. That's why we're
in this and that's why this is so important, because
we've got an industry at the moment where we know
things aren't safe enous, we know that standards have to
increase because we want to retain and attract drivers to
do this really important job. So this campaign, it's really
(03:03):
fundamental and for us, so important. And again, we just
want to make sure that the community really understands exactly
where we're coming from. And to that end, we want
to make clear that we're not going to affect the
school runs or the special needs runs, because we know
just how important they are. But at the same time,
you know, really asking that everyone understands that this situation
(03:27):
has to change, and we don't want to be in
a situation where I'm back speaking with you, Katie next
week saying well, we've still got the same battle and
we're actually going to have to up our up our actions.
That's not where we want to be.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
No same. When's the last time, Like, when's the last
time that this kind of action was taken?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I think it's been a long time that our drivers
in the territory have taken this level of action, Katie,
I mean, this is a this is a twenty four
hour strike, this is this is going to be a significant,
significant things for the network, and we're very mindful of that.
But at the same time, I think it highlights exactly
why this is so important.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
I'll be really blunt about this. People are gonna be pissed,
They're gonna be ropable that they're not able to, you know,
to catch their bus in the same way that they
ordinarily would. I mean, what could happen between now and
then to prevent this strike action from moving forward? Like
what exactly are you guys asking for what to make
(04:30):
sure that this maybe doesn't go ahead.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Well, you recall, Katie, that we've spoken a lot about
industry standards and what that means is, for example, when
drivers are working on a weekend or doing overtime work,
we want to make sure that their level of pay
and the conditions associated with that work are at industry standards. So,
for example, on Saturdays, most people will be familiar with
(04:55):
the idea that you get paid time in a half
or double time on a Sunday that's not currently the
case for drivers in the NT. There's no annual leave loading,
public holiday rates are lower than the rest of the industry,
So we've got a pretty significant gap that we have
to make up. But it's so fundamental, isn't it, because
(05:16):
our drivers do. I think what everyone would acknowledge is
now a very difficult and dangerous job. And it wasn't
always that way. It's used to be a great career.
It was a safe job where you can just freely
interact with your passengers on a daily basis. It is
now difficult and dangerous, and we see drivers getting physically assaulted,
verbally abused. We spoke the other week about rock attacks
(05:39):
when you're trying to look after a full bus load
of people that you really care about. So we need
to make sure that when our drivers are on the road,
they're looked after, both in terms of their safety, but
also that they're paying conditions are at least in line
with the rest of the industry, so that they know
that this job really is seen to be valued the
(06:03):
way it needs to be for our community. I take
your point. Maybe I know that I know that this
is a significant action that our workforce will be taking
But I would just encourage everyone to remember that we've
been on this journey for many months now and we've
tried to We've tried to highlight these issues as best
(06:26):
we can to both our community but also the stakeholders
that are involved to including the company of course, and
we're disappointed too that it's come to this point, and
we'd absolutely love to see a resolution that means that
we don't have to take these actions, but unfortunately that's
where we're at in the future of the industry is
(06:46):
just too important for us not to take a stand.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
So before I let you go, it has been announced
today that the Northern Territory government's going to be closing
the Darwin and Casuarina bus interchanges later this month, saying
it's a move to make the network. Say what's your
view on that decision and how it affects both workers
and passengers.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Look, Katie, we're always we're always in support of moves
that are going to make the network safe and encourage
people to use the network right around the day and night.
And so I think where the government is coming from
here is with a firm one, how do we create
a safer network? These are a couple of the initiatives
(07:28):
that have been worked on, but there are some others
too around increased security, CCTV cameras at hotspots. So from
our point of view as a union, we want to
see a safer network, not just for drivers but also
for our community. So I think if we're all heading
in that direction, that's a good thing. No doubt, more
discussions to be had, but certainly safety is just a
(07:52):
top priority, and you want to know as a driver
that at the end of every day you can go
home safely to your loved ones. And I would say
that exactly the same thing is true for any member
of the community that catches a bus well.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Transport Workers Union NT Branch Secretary Sam Macintosh thanks so
much for your time this morning. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Thank you, Katie, appreciate your time.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Thank you.
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