Victorian tram and train drivers fight for a pay rise

[Whit3y]

So they shouldn't want higher pay because there are people on minimum wage earning less than them? Perhaps you can explain that logic.

10 percent a year, 20 percent a year
every few years they want more more more

the battler gets what 2.5 percent?

 

[ManWithNoName]

10 percent a year, 20 percent a year
every few years they want more more more

the battler gets what 2.5 percent?

So maybe the battler should union up?

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

So maybe the battler should union up?

Nah,They would rather work 16hrs a day 7 days a week.

 

[Kynge of Begrem]

Apparently Tram drivers clear 80-100K

Many uni graduates would dream of that sort of wage (not to mention 3-5 years of HELP debt they would have accumulated)

Bunch of greedy workers fed crap from their union. Look at manufacturing and what happened when those workers got used to feeding from a trough of allowances and penalty rates.

Do you have evidence of those pay rates? ie from the relevant industrial instrument, not from the Hun.

 

[NetworkNerd]

Do you have evidence of those pay rates? ie from the relevant industrial instrument, not from the Hun.

I trusted the Hun to provide me factual information

Damn you Hun!!

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

The highest pay grade for a tram driver, one with in excess of 20 years experience is $63,778. Facts hey?

The drivers obviously have a heap of pressure on them and while being a ticket inspector might seem like a pretty easy gig, I guess it would be similar to being a parking inspector in that dealing with outright hostility towards you on a daily basis is just part of the job and therefore, the pay would have to be decent, otherwise you wouldn't find anyone that would be willing to do it. Plus I assume they'd also have to deal with the occasional beggars and junkies that gravitate towards the public transport in and around the city during the day. I don't think it would be all beer and skittles, particularly if the figures are more proportional to what Kynge of Begrem has posted for drivers.

 

[Sydney Bloods]

You are way off. A driver working nights or split shifts, working on their days off and public holidays might gross that much. I've been involved in the industry for a couple of years now and communicate regularly with drivers.

hey mister don't let your industry facts get in the way here. the people need to be outraged!
Everyone knows these tram drivers with their ridiculous pay packets are the reason housing prices are so high!

goddamn locomotive investors!

 

[Power Raid]

The highest pay grade for a tram driver, one with in excess of 20 years experience is $63,778. Facts hey?

That's good pay for a driver in the city

The $100k is clearly way too much

 

[telsor]

Having reviewed the enterprise agreement that covers ticket inspectors (Yarra Trams Enterprise Agreement 2012 - Operations), I am not sure where the $89,000 p.a. figure comes from, unless it is based on an employee who works regular night shifts/weekends and is in receipt of the corresponding loadings.

Tram Driver level 3 (after 1 year) would get a base of $63,171

Add in shift pay and various allowances and 89K wouldn't be particularly surprising.

 

[swingdog]

Don't know if it's still true, but a few years back the train companies complained that they used to lose drivers to London because the pay rates were better and they were short-staffed over there. It's an international market.

 

[Power Raid]

Don't know if it's still true, but a few years back the train companies complained that they used to lose drivers to London because the pay rates were better and they were short-staffed over there. It's an international market.

yep and that's a good thing

 

[rdhopkins2]

Live from the Metro board room

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Currently we start and finish work at the same location. I live in the eastern suburbs and work at an outstation near where I live. With the new system they want to change it around completely. Firstly they don't want you to start and finish work at the same place, so you might start work at Ringwood station and finish work at Werribee. This means you have to travel back to Ringwood in your own time if that is where you live. Their second proposal causes more problems because they want to change the rostering system completely. Currently rosters are worked out well in advance. I work a 40 week roster, so I can look up months ahead and know exactly what time I start work and what my days off are. Their new system means we will only have 11 hours notice of what shift I'm doing tomorrow. I live in Ringwood so I'd ring up for tomorrow's shift and they say I have to go to Sunbury (as an example) to start work. So I travel to Sunbury but my shift might finish at Frankston...or Ringwood. But because I started work at 4:00am I have to drive the car to work so I have to return to Sunbury to get my car then drive back home to Ringwood. The following day I ring up and they say I have to start at Werribee. It could be anywhere in the system.

I've got young kids and pay for childcare. I'll have no consistency, not know what I'm doing each day and cannot plan for anything. The only rule is we need 11 hours off between shifts so I could start at 4:00am on Monday, 7:00pm Tuesday,, 2:00pm Wednesday, 9:00am Thursday and so on... Would you want to catch my train knowing that? Currently we do morning shifts all week then change to night shift the following week with the ability to swap shifts. Fatigue management is a serious and important factor in our jobs and they want to take that away.

This dispute is not about money, it is not about pay rises. It's about working conditions and my ability to function as a human being while trying to do a job that I take very seriously. I worked very hard to get my drivers qualifications. Ask any train driver how hard the course was, they have a huge failure rate because the course is so difficult but you can be assured the person sitting up the front of your train knows exactly what they are doing and you know they've had enough sleep last night. The job is stressful sometimes but we accept that because all jobs are in their own way, but what management want to do will cause damage to the public transport system and I guarantee more mistakes will occur because of the added stress the these change will create.

I've got 35 years left until I retire (assuming the robots don't take over before then) and it's a job I enjoy and take pride in. These changes will take away all that and it's something that's worth fighting for. I'm just sorry the short term industrial action is causing issues for passengers but I've got a long time left until I retire and I want to make sure it's a job I can guarantee is safe for myself and the thousands of people I take to work every day.

https://www.reddit.com/r/melbourne/...s_staff_to_go_on_strike_on_friday_4th/cuhamwa