The JUNE 2018

TransporThe journal of the RMTU – NZ'st largest Worker specialist transport union

LPC protest 2 Contents Editorial ISSUE 2 • JUNE 2018

4 Fatigue

RMTU members told to get real about fatigue and how it affects you – and your work. A special focus is being pre- pared. 11 Electrification Wayne Butson General secretary RMTU

The RMTU is applying pressure on the Labour government to fulfil its promise Troubling decisions to reverse KiwiRail's decision to scrap electrification on NIMT. from Labour LPC battle lines explained 17 HY is the Labour-led government finding it harder to keep their RMTU members promise to retain electrification and use electric locomotives on have been the North Island main trunk (NIMT) than they did in making it? involved in a The then transport spokesperson Michael Wood had little, or no, protracted dispute hesitation in writing to the RMTU stating that he had advised KiwiRail that in the at Port Lyttelton. Wevent of Labour being elected to government that they would instruct them to desist The story is ex- from their de-electrification plans for the NIMT. plained from 'go to This advice was also released by Labour as part of its electioneering campaign in woe' in this issue. 2017. Why then has there been a deafening silence on keeping that promise to the RMTU and the nation? The reality is I don't know and Labour and its coalition partners aren't saying. On your behalf I have spoken and written to ministers with responsibility for transport COVER PHOTOGRAPH: Picketing outside and state owned enterprises and asked them to immediately instruct KiwiRail to Lyttelton Port Company with determination and maintain electrification and the electric locomotives. widespread support. There has also been a flurry of media activity but still no response from the new Pages 13 - 15 government. The facts remain; n The 17 electric locomotives are midlife and only require refurbishment. There useful life has not expired. The Transport Worker is published by the n Refurbishing the 17 locomotives is the cheapest and best value option for locom- Rail and Maritime Transport Union, otive power on the NIMT. P O Box 1103, Wellington, n Use of the electric locomotives has a carbon footprint of 4,500 carbon tonnes pa. Aotearoa–New Zealand. n Use of diesel locomotives has a carbon footprint of 21,500 tonnes pa. Design and production by Mike Regan. n Decommissioning electric locomotives is not consistent with the Government;s Printed by Pivotal+Thames Publications Ltd, aim of carbon neutrality by 2050. P O Box 11–025, Wellington. n Decommissioning of the electric locomotives is not consistent with the Government's support of regional New Zealand (viz: Taihape and Taumaranui would lose good jobs). www.rmtunion.org.nz The RMTU believes that a review of the processes that KiwiRail used to (suppos-

The Transport Worker June 2018 Worker The Transport ISBN 1173–6488 edly) justify this strategy should immediately be undertaken. LETTERs 3 I well recall an early review that was conducted at the Union's request by Worley Resignations Parsons. It had a phrase in it that stated that the KiwiRail work had a clear "bias" in favour of DL (dog and lemon) locomotives. Dear Editor, I have never before seen such clear criticism in an independent review. Please accept my resignation from the It is no wonder to me that they never finalised their report. The report stated that RMTU effective 26 March 2018. refurbished electric locomotives would have a working life of more than 20 years. This is not due to any dissatisfaction This is in stark contrast to the DL gen 1 locomotives which are approaching 10 years with the Union or the current situation, and are, in many views, life expired. rather that my resignation as launch master When the Queensland electrics were upgraded they became more powerful and takes effect on that day and Irene and I pack their reliability was greatly improved which is expected as electric locomotives have up our home for our move to Whangarei. fewer moving parts and are thus more reliable. I wish to thank the Union's officials Even at present the electric locomotives are estimated to have a maintenance cost of and my fellow members for their support $1 per km versus $2.33 for the DL locomotives (as identified in a select committee report). over the past 21 years. When ever there We all see, on a daily basis, that global fuel prices are rising fast and so the extra was a need for Union support and strength 8,000 litres of diesel that KiwiRail wishes to burn on the NIMT is an ever growing gamble evident in our present situation. on fuel pricing. Please keep me on our Facebook page To keep the electric locomotives operating we assess that it will cost a mere $12m and email list so I can keep up to date with over a three to five year period – a pittance in the crown accounts. developments. KiwiRail also places great store on its mantra of 'simplify standardise' and say that In solidarity the electric locomotives introduce greater inventory and complexity. Bryan Shankland. If they were to strictly adhere to this mantra then they would never have purchased the DL locomotives in the first place. Additionally, who would look to standardise and Dear Editor, simplify using these dog and lemon locos as your standard? It is with regret I tender my resignation from the RMTU having now retired from Chinese whispers the employment in KiwiRail. After 47 years working within the rail A rumour around at the moment is that the DL gen 1s are to be refurbished – sent family and all the changes that have taken back to China for this work to be done. place during The RMTU says very loudly: "Hell no!" that period of KiwiRail locomotives are disassembled, overhauled and reassembled by Union time the only members here in New Zealand. This is our work and these locomotives must not be constant that allowed to be exported for overhaul to China. never changed This New Zealand work for New Zealand workers! was the on- Even the asbestos fiasco saw the work done here at Hutt Shops and this is what must going care and occur this time – and without the plane loads of Chinese exploited workers. concern this Lastly, the good news is that we have now signed the Transdev Auckland and Union has for Wellington collective agreements and have reinitiated in Wellington as the newly signed it's member- agreement expires 3 July 2018 and Auckland in September 2018. ship. The Lyttelton CA has also just been signed with a three year term and so we now It must look to repairing the relationship on a mutually respectful basis. be said that We initiated bargaining with KiwiRail in May and so we are looking forward to the because the industrial councils meeting mid June to consider the employers' offer. railway in this In size, the RMTU is a small union but, if you look at what we achieve and do in the country is a Government entity and is course of our business, it is clear that we play way above our weight. used as a political football the umbrella We will continue to grow our capacity, organisation and passion for betterment of of protection all members enjoy to their The Transport Worker June 2018 our members' conditions and rights – you have my word! wages and working conditions can only be attributed to a strong and healthy union. Essential reading I have held a few positions of office at branch level and have never regretted Sometimes there’s simply not sufficient room in this magazine for all the stuff the time spent carrying out these duties. we think you’d like to read. This issue, to accompany the article on page 11 In fact I recommend all members to get about Labour back-peddling on electrification of the NIMT, is this link to an more involved in the nuts and bolts of this article from the UK. Union as it offers a big learning curve to the Goodbye diesel: what does the phase-out mean for UK rail innovation? workings of a real trade union. I have attended a fair share of meetings https://bit.ly/2E1Wldf and conferences with other delegate’s around the country and it is very gratify- 4 LETTERS H&S

ing to meet many like-minded people who have the welfare of the member- ship and their respective union, at the forefront of their intentions. Changing attitudes about fatigue at work I would like to thank the local H&S experts want to see fatigue treated with care and compassion rather than recrimination and contempt. branch officials both here in Invercar- gill and in Dunedin for their support, the southern reps on the Kiwi-Rail reating fatigued workers with of workers expected to 'tough it out'," said industrial council, our local industrial support and care rather than Fletcher. "Companies put the onus of re- officer and all members of the execu- contempt and blame should sponsibility on the workers to report when tive and staff at head office. be the guiding principals guid- they're unsafe to work due to fatigue. This My thanks to you all for the help ing management and unions when safety is unrealistic because impairment-related you have given me over the years and Tincidents occur says the RMTU following a fatigue is cumulative and once workers are for imparting your knowledge on many recent fatigue-related incident at Lyttelton in a state of chronic sleep debt they are no subjects. All the very best for the future. Port. longer able to accurately judge how safe Gavin Mortimore. "Far too many workers are treated with they are to work." Ex loco engineer. punitive measures when the real cause of She said that chronic fatigue is likened the problem is fatigue," said RMTU gen- to being impaired by alcohol and in addition Dear Editor, eral secretary Wayne Butson, "mostly from workers can experience uncontrolled micro After 45 years as a member of the NUR/ ill-conceived rosters which don't provide sleep whilst operating machinery. RMTU I have retired from Dunedin rail- adequate sleep opportunity for workers to A good fatigue management system, she ways. I would like to thank all members recover from shift work and also require adds, is all about making sure people aren't of the RMTU for their friendship and workers to sleep during the day which is very put in that position in the first place. support but the time has come for me difficult for getting quality sleep." "It's about safe hours of work and two to resign. I wish all the members of the RMTU health and safety organiser, Karen full nights sleep between shifts that allow union all the best for the future. Fletcher, agrees and adds "In workplaces people to recover and adjust to new shift Joe Carson that have a poor safety culture there is a dis- patterns." incentive to report fatigue related incidents. Dear Editor, This is because fatigue is treated as a per- After 46 years working for the railways formance issue rather than a safety issue." Employers are on notice by in New Zealand, I have now retired. Worksafe NZ to manage the risk The recent LPC fatigue incident was of fatigue. Worksafe recently Consequently, I wish to tender my brought to a head when RMTU member, prosecuted a tractor company for resignation from the RMTU. Josh (not his real name), was involved in a failing to manage worker fatigue I have been fortunate in that I did near miss following five consecutive night after a tractor driver was killed not ever need the direct intervention shifts followed by an early morning day shift. whilst driving after working 200 hours in two weeks. of the Union during my career. All without an adequate break between shifts However, I recognise that the ben- to recover his sleep pattern. https://bit.ly/2rLdV0W efits and secu- "Unfortunately, there is a long culture rity that I en- joyed during my employ- ment was due An RMTU port-employed member was presented to the work with this unrealistic line done by the up of shifts last month: RMTU and its Fri 25th 2300-0700 predecessors, Sat 26th 1500-2300 in my case the Sun 27th 0700-1500 Railway Offic- Sun 27th 2300-0700 ers Institute. Therefore, I was grateful for the presence and facilitation that the Union provided Michael Berry Member 11103. The Transport Worker June 2018 Worker The Transport 5 Changing attitudes about fatigue at work H&S experts want to see fatigue treated with care and compassion rather than recrimination and contempt.

A good fatigue management system also has a process for non-punitive reporting that thanks workers for reporting fatigue issues rather than punishing them. Fatigue, Joint Lyttelton Port Company/ like any workplace hazard should be man- aged jointly between the employer and the RMTU communiqué workers who do the job and face the risk. atigue (both physical and mental) are hazards which affect people's ability "Fatigue safety committees that include to work safety. Fatigue causes impairment ranging from slower reaction time worker and management representatives to uncontrolled micro-sleeps. In the Port environment fatigue represents a are a good way of monitoring a company's Fserious safety risk. fatigue management system and identifying The risk of fatigue cannot be eliminated in a 24/7 work environment but it can be where fatigue is creating an unacceptable minimised to an acceptable and agreed level. LPC's health and wellbeing specialist, risk to workers safety," said Fletcher. LPC has convened a working group of management and union representatives to At KiwiRail, loco engineers have revised develop a Fatigue Risk Management System. their rostering rules to better manage the Professor Philippa Gander of Massey University's Sleep/Wake Institute has delivered risk of fatigue. LEs have a limit of four two seminars to the working group to explain how a fatigue risk management system night shifts that has to be followed by a 54 could work at LPC. hour break (two nights in bed) before they Elements of the fatigue risk management system include: move to a first (morning) shift which must n A fatigue management standard that describes how LPC will manage fatigue not start before 9am to provide for a full related risk; night's sleep. n A non-punitive fatigue reporting system that encourages workers to report fatigue "The two-night break also provides without negative consequence; time for the person to recover from the n Updated CAR reports that include fatigue reporting; cumulative sleep debt and shift their sleep n Rostering design that is based on safe rostering principles and provides for adequate pattern from day sleep to sleeping at night," sleep opportunity at circadian appropriate times; said Fletcher. n Data collection to identify fatigue 'hot spots' in container terminal, marine, me- "Clearly, we all have a long way to go chanical and coal work areas; before we can truly resolve this problem," n Identifying the tasks, systems and environmental factors that can cause fatigue; said Butson. "However, I believe the will n Carrying out fatigue risk assessments; is there to see it through and when we do n Mitigating fatigue risks through safe rostering principles and breaks; and it could be a beacon for industries nation- n Developing agreed safety performance indicators to measure how well fatigue is wide." managed. In addition LPC will implement a Fatigue Safety Action Group (FSAG) for coordinating the fa- tigue risk management system. This group will review fatigue data such as fatigue reports,

arrange risk assessments and The Transport Worker June 2018 recommend fatigue mitigation strategies. The FSAG will involve worker and management representa- tives. Next steps include the comple- tion of the Fatigue Management Standard and the development of terms of reference for the group. 6 ACTION Auckland's Transdev dispute

N May 2017 prior to commencing opportunity to more effectively challenge collective bargaining, both the RMTU these proposals. and the Transdev Auckland (TDAK) A stop work meeting was held on Au- managementI teams completed two days of gust 23, 2017 and four resolutions were interest-based bargaining training. endorsed for our campaign to keep the This was supposed to facilitate a less trains safe. Those were: confrontational bargaining process than n Keep the RMTU members on the trains the usual positional approach. maintaining terms and conditions for The main focus of this approach is that all members. it would be based on trust between the n No forced redundancies. two parties. n Build organisation on the job. The TDAK management team commit- n Secure public and political support for ted themselves to this. rail and railway workers. Imagine the RMTU’s consternation The bargaining team became the and anger when two days later the campaign team and as a result the company revealed that it had com- resolutions tendered in bargaining mitted to Auckland Transport (AT) stated there would be no DDO in the implementation of the so-called ALL aboard! the currency of the next collective security and fare evasion project agreement. (aka SaFe project). A sustained effort to lobby There are two main factors to Staffed trains politicians and community groups SaFE: followed plus the mobilisation of n Aside from the drivers, the are members around such activities removal of all current onboard as petitions, demonstrations and operational staff including train safe trains industrial action. In other words a managers and ticket inspectors. full scale publicity and media cam- These were Transdev staff and safety It was apparent to the RMTU from the paign engaging with TDAK, NZTA critical members of the RMTU. They were to start that this would have a dramatic impact and Work Safe NZ focussed on the safety be replaced by transport officers employed on safety for those working on and using case variation. directly by Auckland Transport with limited the trains. One of the main challenges was build- warranted powers and inferior terms and In principle your Union had no objec- ing organisation amongst our members, so conditions. These powers included direct- tion to the introduction of transport offic- communication was vital. Weekly newslet- ing fare evaders not to board or to leave ers but as an addition to the current train ters were sent out informing members of the trains, directing passengers suspected crew not as a replacement, for a number the latest developments, countering mis- of not paying their fare to provide name of reasons; The infrastructure on the Auck- leading information from both TDAK and and address, date of birth and telephone land rail network is not suitable for DDO; AT and encouraging the members to ever numbers; and issuing infringement notices The route is not fenced; There are curved greater efforts. We also issued regular media for non-payment. These officers were only platforms and numerous level crossings; releases countering AT and TDAK claims to be used on certain services, initially on and the culture of the travelling public in and, most importantly, we had the effec- trains but also on buses and ferries. This, Auckland is not one of compliance with the tive use of social media as a campaign tool. as opposed to the current practice of safety rules and operation of the railway. Where possible we met with politicians critical operational member of staff on every The implementation of the SaFe Project in groups of two and three. We also spoke service. was predicated on the NZTA approving with and lobbied local councillors. The n The introduction of Driver Door the variation of the Transdev safety case to Union received a letter from the then Operations (DDO). To add further insult operate the railway. Only if they were satis- Labour Party transport spokesman Michael Transdev and AT had come to an arrange- fied that the proposed measures were as Wood pledging support for the RMTU on ment that if any redundant staff wanting to safe – or safer – than the current operating its opposition to the SaFe project. take up a position of transport officer that it model. The Union's view was that without We also lobbied various community, would be on inferior terms and conditions. challenge this would be rubber stamped. women, and disability groups. Due to the They would not be entitled to full redun- Fortunately for us these changes were lobbying and the relationships we built the dancy but instead would receive a gratuity proposed at a time when collective bargain- Public Transport Users Association became

The Transport Worker June 2018 Worker The Transport from AT of 50% of the normal redundancy. ing had been initiated. Thus this gave us the a vital ally to us having independently 7 formed the opinion that these proposed ity to change policy and apply direct changes were wrong. Their support pressure to Auckland Transport and would prove to be a critical factor in Transdev. resolving the dispute. Millions of dollars in capital ex- We, of course, garnered support penditure for the upgrade of rolling from other trade unions. stock and the purchase of further The RMTU launched an online peti- electric trains was being held up. De- tion to 'Keep our trains safe' with the spite this Transdev would not move on current onboard staff. This provided an their position when bargaining broke excellent opportunity to build organisa- down resulting in a second ballot for tion within our membership. industrial action. The result was for the Obviously some/many members imposition of an overtime ban. were uneasy about being seen to chal- It was at this time that pressure and held regular report back meetings to lenge the management. For this reason we was again increased on AT and Transdev keep members fully informed. Management engaged two retired members to assist in by building organisation and lobbying. In were insistent on the implementation of gathering signatures from the travelling cooperation with the Public Transport Users the SaFE project in all its elements. We public at Pukekohe Station. They were there Association we carried out a survey of the were told by their lead advocate that the from 0600-0800 and obtained around 120 travelling public around safety on the trains. company didn’t believe in working groups signatures. We used a PTUA-generated questionnaire. because they did not work. As a result of We then posted on our Facebook pages The results showed that 92% were opposed this intransigence bargaining broke down pictures of us at the station getting public to the SaFe project and DDO. The PTUA at the end of October. We held a report support. This had a galvanising effect on then announced that it was to hold a public back meeting and conducted our first ballot our members. Others began to set up meeting inviting AT and Transdev manage- for strike action in decades. The result was stands at numerous stations and it took a ment along with government ministers. overwhelmingly in support. short period of time to reach our target of The overtime ban proved crucial. Trans- The strike was held on December 8, 4,000 signatures. dev were proved to be operating services 2017. Pickets were posted outside all de- What was so encouraging was the over with less than minimum staffing levels and pots in a party atmosphere. Support from whelming support from the public. With the numerous services were cancelled. the public was overwhelming. They clearly petition in hand we held a joint rally with Whilst the overtime ban was in force a understood our message that the dispute First Union, who had their own petition of further bargaining session took place. was about ensuring public safety. In tandem 6,500 signatures as part of their BUS FAIR For the first time Auckland Transport with this the Union challenged any altera- campaign against the implementation of gave presentations to the Union around tion to risk assessments by the company to PTOM. These were jointly presented to the SaFe project. Transdev also gave a brief present to the NZTA. Our health and safety Auckland Transport by councillor Mike outline of their plans for implementing the representative also presented a comprehen- Lee outside their head office. The effect SaFe project. No concessions were made so sive dossier to the NZTA showing numer- of the lobbying and other union actions the bargaining team refused to lift the ban. ous factors that had not been covered or put enormous pressure on both Auckland The following day Auckland Transport considered by Transdev. Transport and Transdev. and Transdev management along with A further round of bargaining was held This was the background to which NZCTU and the RMTU general secretary the week after the strike with Auckland collective bargaining negotiation between met with Transport Minister Phil Twyford Transport management acting as observer. Transdev and the RMTU began. and Minister for Workplace Relations Ian We reiterated our willingness for the Because of the relationship between the Rees-Galloway. industrial council to discuss alternative RMTU and management all our negotiations Following this meeting the foundation models of operating the railway. took place with the presence of a mediator. for a settlement was made between all We tried building trust but were again From the outset the sticking point was parties. met with a stubborn refusal. The Transport Worker June 2018 our claim for no introduction of driver The following week all parties commit- Understanding the need to keep public door operation through the currency of ted to sign up to the High Performance High support we decided that we would take no any agreement. Engagement process outside of bargaining further industrial action during the Christ- We weren’t opposed to exploring dif- to find a solution to what was now called mas break. We did, though, hold a stop ferent ways of running the passenger ser- ‘The Challenging Issue". work meeting at Britomart in front of 250 vices but not in the way that had been put Auckland Transport and Transdev plus members and the result was a unani- forward as it was not safe. The issue of the committed to not unilaterally do anything mous vote of support in the bargaining team operational running of the railway should further toward imposing the SaFe project and the continued pursuit of our claims. have been discussed in an industrial council whilst this process was in place. The change in government meant we outside of bargaining. HPHE has been successfully used in were now lobbying politicians who were The RMTU, throughout the process, both the aviation and rail industries. in ministerial positions with the abil- continued to produce weekly newsletters - Andrew Ward 8 NEWS

FOR SALE Napier Port "For sale to the right buyer, in good running order, well maintained, comes with 'good will', several sites (one with sea views), boat access, great fishing/diving spots, over 46 hectares, site two 5.7 hectares, site three 4 hectares, site four 13 hectares, many implement buildings at all sites – a part-owner business opportunity in the beautiful Hawke's Bay."

subject that is on both Regional and City council agendas around New Zealand currently is port ownership!A carefully by its owners – the ratepayers and ing that the important topic of the potential Napier Port is nearly in the position the people of Hawke's Bay. Napier Port Company sell down was not of being a potential partial sale. There are There is a lot to ponder including the mentioned. Not even a sentence to update several options which have been presented impact on rates. Partial owner/s will cer- the locals on something so critical to their to the Hawke's Bay Regional Council by tainly want their returns with subsequent region! Smoke and mirrors does nothing a (supposed) panel of experts to help financial implications on Council infrastruc- to maintain public support or confidence, ratepayers decide how to fund the $125 ture, services, regional roads, employment, instead it creates suspicion around those million required to build a new wharf and and more. elected and their motives. infrastructure to cope with the region's Our Union has already experienced There is plenty of opinion and specula- growth over the next 10 years. similar battles around Port of Tauranga's tion and like bums, we all have one. In Personally, wharf expansion and re- partial stake at Timaru. terms of how the sell down should happen gional development are a good thing. How- The people of Hawke's Bay must be and future ownership, whatever options are ever, the pathway to port ownership (or kept informed and the process must be presented, the ratepayers must have input. part thereof) by either foreign or domestic transparent. In the latest Regional Council We are all stakeholders. investors who see this purely as a venture to gazette it talked about the rates, water, In this scribe's view, a referendum over line their own pockets, has to be considered coast, parks, environment etc. It is perplex- such an important asset is essential.

The plan has an external administrator and contributions are invested with four fund managers.

Product Disclosure Statement: The Transport Worker June 2018 Worker The Transport 9 NSW loco division conference had the opportunity to travel with Todd industrial action, as they currently have in Valster (RMTU organiser) and Mike Australia and the UK. Williams (KiwiRail LE and South Island There were two topics of discussion dur- Irail National Management Committee) to ing the conference that summed up where Sydney for the Rail, Tram and Bus Union's, we are moving to currently as unions. NSW Locomotive Division Delegate Confer- Firstly, the introduction of automa- ence held every 18 months. tion in industries in Australia, such as the The Division represents roughly 3,600 waterfront, and how it affects the pay and LEs across metro, regional and freight op- conditions of workers, where aspects of erations within NSW, as well as spanning their employment are replaced by machines, multiple government and private opera- and how we maintain current terms and tors. However, their solidarity as a group conditions. of delegates is quite strong regardless of The second is the fight on pay and employer. By Leighton Mosese conditions and how far the union move- The conference was over two days with ment has progressed in the last 80 years. the theme "Stand up, fight back". A range of The conclusion gained is that regard- It comes as no surprise to learn that in the speakers from the national secretary of the less of where in the world you are, we all 1920s pay and working conditions were RTBU to experts in employment relations are in the same boat in terms of the fights extremely poor around the world, work- as well as sister unions, such as the RMTU we have against our respective employers. ers banded together and fought for better representing New Zealand, the JRU from Whether it be a campaign on public safety conditions, resulting in workers having a Japan and ASLEF from the UK. Each of the against Driver Only Operations in Auckland, more equal footing in bargaining power visiting unions gave a speech on the state just getting fair pay and conditions in the against employers. of their rail industry and the fights that have UK, or fighting against anti-union govern- After the 1980s, with deregulation and been having recently. ments watering down the ability to exercise free market reforms, came aggressive em- ployer tactics in collective bargaining. The past 30 years have seen the balance of power increasingly favour employers, who are also being supported by anti-union legislation, making it all the more harder for unions to extract decent pay and conditions. The recent change in government in New Zealand will hopefully see the current power imbalance between workers and em- ployers move to a more equal footing. International guests assemble with RTBU loco division officials.

Contracts signed The Transport Worker June 2018

Signing the newly agreed THR MECA for Wellington Metro are (l to r) Wayne (l to r) Wayne Butson and Transdev Auckland managing Butson, Transdev Wellington managing director Alan Bannister and Hyundai director Michel Ladrak sign the new CA which expires Rotem managing director Sunjoong Kim. The agreement expires 2 July 2018. September 2018. 10 NEWS Minister impressed with HPHE inister for Workplace Relations, Safety, Immigration and ACC Iain Lees-Galloway visited Palmerston North on 6 April to see the impactM of engagement and worker participation in a High Performance High Engagement (HPHE) context. KiwiRail and the RMTU have been working with consultants hp2 (High Performance Partners Ltd) on this initiative. The Union has stated a commitment for HPHE so long as there are tangible benefit to members from their participation and engagement. General secretary Wayne Butson said: "To date it is clear that members are flourishing in the participative and empowering environment that the HPHE methodol- Minister Lees-Galloway said: "The level of engagement from ogy provides and I have been greatly impressed when attending the workforce has been really exciting to see." briefing session where delegates and members do presentations to The minister said that it was "incredibly important" for manage- dignitaries or senior officials and you can see that they are totally ment to engage with those on the frontline and that HPHE needed into this thing." commitment from all parties to succeed. HPHE operations upper NI HIS project kicked off with the HPHE training in March. The issue state- Tment for this project is : “What can we do as One KiwiRail to improve utilisation of our teams and assets in the Golden Triangle in order to enhance safety, operate reliably Most of the team at the April meeting in TeRapa. and meet customer demands?” The UNI team is made up of LE reps, train control rep, The issue statement can evolve over time during the project. planning, rosters, HR and management and meets monthly with a Some issues discussed include: booking freight, rosters, deliver/ One KiwiRail, One RMTU approach. unload, train control, network infrastructure, train plan/roster optimisation and terminal optimisation. Transdev leave hearing HE RMTU supported an applica- tion to the Employment Relations TAuthority by a former employee of Transdev Auckland arising from their re- fusal to pay out accrued leave in his final pay. KiwiRail gave supporting evidence. The Authority member, Vicki Campbell found in favour of the RMTU. Her ruling said payments made on termination for employees who qualify for shift leave, must include an accrued leave payment, proportionate to an employee's underly- ing entitlement. Transdev Auckland are now paying out all money owed. (l to r) Paul Ashton (KiwiRail), Ben Thompson (Hazel Armstrong Law) and Bill Sweeney See more in Auckland rail notes p18.

The Transport Worker June 2018 Worker The Transport (RMTU). Also in attendance was Wayne Butson (RMTU and photographer!) Environment 11 Keep the power on! Labour back peddling on electrification of NIMT

arly in her election campaign Jacinda Ardern called climate change “my generation’s nuclear Efree moment". She recalls her father, then New Zealand’s high commissioner to Niue, talk about visiting local village leaders on Kiribati who showed him where the water sat when they were children and where it was now - lapping squarely around their survival. “There will always be those who say it’s too difficult. There will be those who say we are too small, and that pollution and climate change are the price of progress,” Ms Ardern said. “They are wrong.” The RMTU agrees wholeheartedly and An artist's depiction of what a refurbished EF loco could look like. urges her and her government trials show this is to make a stand now, keep accomplished in one of their campaign prom- EF upgrade Vs DL diesel less than ten min- ises and reverse KiwiRail's EF DL utes. decision to scrap electrific- "If you add to Up front capital costs $12m $37.5m ation on the North Island Main that the time saved Trunk (NIMT) line and the Maintenance cost/km $1 $2.33 Time in service 2.5 - 3 years 2 years by using more continued use of the electric Carbon footprint/year 4,500 tonnes 21,500 tonnes powerful and fast- locos. Time penalty for 11 hour journey 10 minutes 0 minutes er electric locomo- Unfortunately, it appears tives the timing is but buying the eight new diesel locomotives they have, at best, put any about equal," said Butson. "No time lost or KiwiRail says would be needed would cost decision on hold or even possibly dropped gained. Their case simply doesn't stack up." $35m - plus another 20 years would be the idea of putting a halt to the scrapping But back to saving our planet and the added to the life of the electric locos. plans of KiwiRail entirely. part – albeit small by worldwide compari- The current electric locomotives have This is a major blow for the RMTU which son – which KiwiRail and our Government essentially been 'managed into oblivion', has been urging increasing electrification has to play. said Butson. – not less. Electric locomotives are symbolic of our "They have not been overhauled since RMTU general secretary Wayne Butson commitment to a clean, green, zero carbon their arrival in 1988/89. No other locomo- says: "Our confidence in the Labour Party's future. Every rail journey for our goods to a tive in New Zealand in operation today has ability to bring about environmentally posi- global market is a tick for this undertaking, been so unloved over so much time." tive changes will be seriously eroded if what says Butson. Never-the-less, he points out that the is being predicted comes true. He says under a diesel regime for the

most recent figures relating to mean dis- The Transport Worker June 2018 "Research paper after research paper NIMT carbon emissions will go to 30,000 tance between failure (MDF ) or 'kilometres shows the benefit of electrification and if tonnes a year. between breakdown' show that the Electric we are to chase that elusive 100% Pure ideal "Refurbishing the electric locomotives EF (arrived 1988) has an MDF of 67,996km. this is one measure that can be taken quickly is a 'no brainer' ," says Butson. "When you This compares favourably with the average and easily – and with just one phone call." weigh their value for money and the low of the three generations of Chinese-built A former Secretary for the Environment cost to our environment how could you DLs of 72,000km. and an engineer, Roger Blakely, told Na- choose any other direction? There is no KiwiRail also points to time delays at Te tional Radio's Morning Report recently that doubt that the citizens of Kiribati appreciate Rapa and Palmerston North as diesel locos KiwiRail's argument that diesels would be every little bit of effort going on around the are exchanged for electric. cheaper simply didn't stack up. world if, in the end, it saves their country KiwiRail allocates around 40 minutes for He said refurbishing the old electric from inundation." locomotives would cost around $12million the changeover at each junction but timed 12 NEWS RMTU WOMEN

Emmajane Craig What does your job entail? Passenger operator. My job en- What is your Union role and why did tails collecting fares, looking after you become active? the passengers and helping ensure I'm currently the youth rep/women's the smooth running of the services. rep and I wasn't always pro union. I joined KiwiRail when I was 19 and I had very lim- Why did you choose this job? ited knowledge about what unions do and I decided to become a passen- what their importance is. But I remember ger operator because I found that reading an article about how Labour unions the hours aligned well with also were created and the history of them. So I being a student. started to take more of an interest in what What's the best part of your was going on in my workplace and talking job? to some of the older staff who had dedicated The best part of my job would most of their lives to their job. They were have to be the people I work with. very helpful and gave me a run down of I don't think you'd find another 'bro' or even 'sir' a couple of times (LOL) some of the history of the RMTU. I thought work place with so many different types of but outside of work I'm actually quite girly it would be something worth investing my personalities. Also the monthly briefings we so hearing this can sometimes be annoying. time into and I slowly became more and have because there is free food - hahaha! more active. What advice would you give to your What bugs you about the job? 21 year old self? Being apart of collective bargaining! And What piece of advice would I give to going on strike. I mean that is something The only thing that springs to mind is that because we women work in such my 21 year old self ??? Hmmm! Quit your you don't ever really want to happen in your job, put study on hold and travel the world working life but it is definitely something a male-dominated workplace sometimes co-workers or passengers treat you like a because there is no real order in how you I will remember for the rest of my life as must do 'life'. an activist! male. I often get referred to as 'mate' or

ANZAC Day Whangarei GUR Trust volunteer Jade Pearl Simmonds beside the Passchendaele plaque

Petone

The Transport Worker June 2018 Worker The Transport Some of the ever-increasing crowd gathering at Petone Railway Station each year. Ray Hagenaars with the Hutt Workshop wreath. ACTION 13 Resolution achieved – trust lost ERE at Lyttelton it's impos- The truth about our struggle – sible to separate the branch that it was about safety and treating notes from the story of the people fairly – resonated with the disputeH which has been going on public. since negotiations broke down in However, management re- March. mained intransigent so members Readers of the last issue of The instructed officials to hold a further Transport Worker will recall that bar- ballot. gaining was at a crossroads in March This time we issued notice that and, after balloting, RMTU members marine services members – the issued notice of an overtime ban and people responsible for berthing then full stoppages. vessels – would be on strike. A lock The fight was over management out notice from LPC immediately pressure to introduce changes to for settlement. followed. The RMTU retaliated by hours of work in the container terminal to We later learned that the CEO was on issuing notice of a five day full strike by all align the RMTU collective agreement with a skiing holiday in the Tyrol while this was members. Taking these together the port that of MUNZ. In short, we weren't going going on. At that point members blew a was facing closure for ten days. to sign up to changes that were potentially collective fuse. People took notice. unsafe when Lyttelton Port Company (LPC) Our negotiators kept trying. Regardless of whether they were pro- had no policy in place for managing fatigue. We withdrew strike notices in the hope union or pro-management the overwhelm- Other factors were also in play: that would generate momentum in discus- ing feeling was that this dispute had to be n Negotiations had been unnecessarily sion. LPC responded by illegally locking us sorted. prolonged by management's insistence out. Clearly appeasement wasn't going to The RMTU calculated management on changes elsewhere in the port, work. Members were furious. could resolve the conflict for under notably the roster our mechanical A five day strike followed. $200,000 yet the impact on the regional maintenance members work. After We received threatening letters from economy was going to be in the tens, if months of talks we'd reached a point LPC about picketing wherein management not hundreds, of millions of dollars once where we had a roster both sides could seemed to think we were going to fight us- issues like reputational damage had been live with only then for the employer's ing the tactics of last century. factored in. advocate to make such a paltry financial Our response was to use a range of Time ticked by and minds became more offer to members to accept that it was creative techniques to further unify the focused. unanimously rejected. members and generate positive publicity Senior management finally spoke di- n Another issue was that LPC had agreed for our cause. rectly with the RMTU for the first time since to a pay deal with MUNZ in return for We leafleted the leafy neighbourhoods negotiations commenced last July. changed hours of work for MUNZ mem- of LPC directors thus bringing the dispute An agreement 'in principle' was struck: bers in the container terminal but had home to the people who were responsible Lock out and strike notices were with- rolled out that deal to the relatively few for, but insulated from, it; protests and drawn. MUNZ members who worked elsewhere rallies were organised at Christchurch City At the time of writing we have con- in the port and who had not had to ac- Council and Christchurch City Holdings cluded a lengthy process sorting out the cept any changes. These workers work Ltd, the shareholder of LPC; we staged pub- fine print on the terms of settlement. By alongside RMTU members. Readers can licity pickets at Lyttelton road and rail tun- the time you read this we will have either imagine the effect that had on the mood nels and succeeded in making prime-time ratified the deal or members will have The Transport Worker June 2018 on the waterfront. TV news; local band The Eastern performed rejected it. Once we had issued the legally required a gig in Lyttelton in our support; and we There are a number of reasons why the 14 days notice of strike action we had me- organised coordinated information pickets ratification vote could go either way. diation with LPC. This was a literal waste outside key transport companies, including The RMTU went into this bargaining of time. Toll and KiwiRail, to highlight the impact with three objectives: Their negotiators kept us waiting for on the wider regional economy. • real wage growth; four hours and when they finally came Finally, we welcomed CEO Peter Davie • no clawbacks; and into the room there was no movement home from his skiing holiday with a sign • building organisation. whatsoever in their position nor any ex- at the bottom of the road where he lives. We achieved all three quite early in the pression of a willingness to move, despite The public reaction was overwhelm- dispute. the RMTU putting up half a dozen options ingly positive. However, 'mission creep' kicked in: 14 Action [cont]

Members, quite justifiably, looked at other workers on the waterfront and demanded parity with them. Management's arrogance and intran- sigence had fuelled members' anger. One boss actually went on the record accusing the RMTU of using safety as a smokescreen for our industrial agenda. This, from a man who walks past the memorial to the last worker killed on the waterfront every morning. Finally we have a container terminal manager who is on a witch hunt and disciplining, and in some cases dismissing, workers while ignoring a host of systemic failings, the most notable of which is the lack of a working fatigue management policy. The lack of co-ordination at LPC means the current industrial relations manager is marginalised, often being told of management decisions by the RMTU. For the same reason we don't think the good work being achieved by the health and safety managers will make a positive difference. It's fair to say that trust between the RMTU and LPC man- agement is at a low we haven't seen for many, many years. It will be a long time before it is re- stored.

Families, friends and supportive unions joined the strikers from LPC in their quest for fairer terms and conditions.

During the strike action CEO Peter Davies was skiing over seas. We greeted

The Transport Worker June 2018 Worker The Transport his return 15 The Transport Worker June 2018 16 NEWS Engineering students awarded scholarships

WO eighteen-year-old is majoring in mechatronics or students with a passion software engineering. for engineering have been "Engineering is a subject I have Tawarded Ernest William File scholar- been passionate about from a young ships for 2018. age," he said. "I enjoy being creative Hannah Hudson (Christchurch) and solving problems, so I aim to get and Anton Rufer (Tirau) (both a job that involves these aspects of pictured right)have been awarded my personality and puts my study of $2,000 each towards their first engineering into practice, as well as year of study at the University of "I have always been fascinated with how some hands-on work and a bit of a Canterbury. The scholarship supports the the world works," says Hannah. "Natural re- sons and daughters of members of the Rail challenge." and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) in sources engineering allows me to combine Anton is also a keen sportsman, particu- their first year of a degree at a New Zealand this interest with my passion for problem larly in rowing and football. university. solving and the natural environment." The Ernest William File Scholarship was Hannah was dux at Cashmere High Hannah has also been involved as a established in 1978 by members of the New School (2017) where she studied phys- competitor, coach and evaluator with Zealand Locomotive Engineers’ Associa- ics, geography, calculus, chemistry and Future Problem Solving New Zealand, win- tion as a tribute to Ernest William File, the mathematics. She also completed 60 ning the international title for her division retiring general secretary at the time. The points towards a degree at the University of in 2016. scholarship was adopted and expanded by Canterbury as part of its STAR programme, She has spoken at many large public the RMTU and extended to all members. including two papers on Antarctica. events since she was 14 years old, including The scholarship is administered by She is now studying towards a TEDx Christchurch. Universities New Zealand Bachelor of Engineering, majoring in natu- Also studying engineering at the Uni- More information is available at ral resources engineering. versity of Canterbury is Anton Rufer, who https://bit.ly/2k5uy3O

$1,500 AD&D All members of RMTU are now covered by a $1,500 Accidental Death & Dismemberment Benefit, including $500 spouse coverage and a further $500 coverage on dependent children. This is an automatic membership benefit of belonging to the RMTU.

Members also have the option to increase their coverage an additional $10,000 which costs just $2 for the first year. Please reply on line at ailnz.co.nz/request to have an AIL representative deliver your certificate of coverage and explain the additional insurance coverage available. This is very important to you and your family. www.ailife.com AIL Public Relations Protecting Working Families [email protected] freephone 0800 894 121 AMERICAN INCOME LIFE insurance company

A.M. Best, one of the oldest and most respected insurance ratings companies,

The Transport Worker June 2018 Worker The Transport has rated American Income Life as A+ (Superior) for overall Financial Strength (as of 6/15). 17 Union's backing wins ACC case T'S thanks to the Union spoke to RMTU general secretary and it's care and concern Wayne Butson about his problem. for members that has "Wayne told me to give him FraserI Langbein on the way all the paperwork I had and he'd to full recovery with ACC now talk to Hazel Armstrong Law," paying. said Fraser. "I did all that and they Two years ago Palmerston came back quickly saying they North KiwiRail structures gang- would take my case." er, Fraser and a mate were out Long story short, ACC came hunting when the quad bike up with the money just before the was steered into a rather large, Post op Fraser now has to recover. scheduled operation. but hidden, rock. The sudden condition, were not prepared to pay and "I thank my union membership stop tipped Fraser off and down a cliff fol- Fraser, anxious to get back to work, paid and that the Union is there behind us all lowed by the quad itself which crushed his for the op himself. the way," he said. "Far too many workers arm and wrist. "I thought I would try and contest that are simply unaware that the union is there The most serious damage was to his later. Meanwhile, I needed to get back to to assist – and especially in times of crisis." wrist which needed specialist attention. It work," he said. When the Transport Worker spoke to appears that Fraser was born with an ex- Pain continued and he returned to the Fraser mid-May he had just had his plaster tended ulna (forearm bone) and the weight orthopaedic surgeon who said that a new removed and faced a further four weeks of of the quad pushed it into and through his technique may solve the problem. recuperation and physio before returning wrist. However, ACC, claiming it was a prior Again ACC refused to pay so Fraser to work – albeit to lighter duties.

CAPTION COMPETITION Picket The winner of the last issue's ban competition to find approp- riate words to describe RMTU health and safety organiser Karen Fletcher testing SCSR Josh Meyer breathing is: Timaru Brent Falaniko points to the BS no picket- "Initiated in 1914 KiwiRail ing sign at gas mask trials for tunnels finally comes to an end." Port Timaru. Well done Brent! Around the branches

the likely cause and the cut and cover work but still no word The Transport Worker June 2018 AUCKLAND RAIL with TAIC and NZTA on who has got the contract to bore the both investigating, the tunnel nor build a new station at Mount uckland Metro survived the answer will be found. Eden and associated fly overs to link up March madness only to have the The North Island main trunk line with the Western Line. wheels fall off in May. And I mean between Papakura and Pukekohe is to be Wage round time is coming around theA wheels actually came off when EMU electrified by 2020 (the gap between NIMT again for Kiwi Rail and Transdev Auckland. 279 derailed in the Britomart Tunnel (May electrification and the Auckland network This is probably a good time to raise the 9). Luckily there were no injuries but it is narrowing). AT have ordered 15 more issue of regional pay rates. It is not only blocked platforms one and two for two days EMUs. At this point there is no sign of the the cost of living in Auckland but the time and caused major disruption to Auckland third mainline between Westfield and Wiri. we sit in traffic getting to and from work. commuters. It is looking like poor rail is The City Rail link is progressing with A trip that normally takes 20 minutes can 18 Around the branches

increase to 90 minutes during peak traf- Christine challenged that people who were Campbell found in favour of the RMTU. Her fic and peak traffic starts earlier and lasts employed by Transdev Auckland prior to ruling said payments made on termination longer – and that is without any accidents. 23/3/18 were not paid correctly on termina- for employees who qualify for shift leave, And now government and local govern- tion of their employment and that Transdev must include an accrued leave payment, ment are going to introduce a fuel tax for Auckland failed to pay the full entitlement proportionate to an employee's underlying the Auckland region. of pro rata shift and long service leave. entitlement. In July 2017, a complaint was lodged After mediation failed, this complaint Transdev Auckland are now paying out by Christine Towers, and acted on by Ben was taken to the Employment Relations all money owed. Thompson from Hazel Armstrong Law. Authority. The Authority member Vicki

Many, like those NORTHLAND RAIL in the far north, suf- T is great to see some long overdue fer roads that are more spending on the North Auckland Line comparable to goat tracks. They will be with turnouts being refurbished, cross- heartened by the new government which ingsI upgraded, joints welded, concrete has axed National's roads of significance in sleepers on tight curves, ballast discharged favour of increases in funding for regional and new wooden bridge piles – a rarity from roads which were long under funded and the normal hand-me-downs. neglected by the previous government. The membership joined the huge turn- It also appears the NRC chair, along with out on ANZAC day morning with an invite the region's mayors, were also gullible to by the local RSA to honour fallen railway former Transport and Economic Develop- workers. The boys did themselves proud ment minister Simon Bridges' ‘pork barrel and made a unique memorial piece for the politics’, something Northlanders were use solemn occasion (see photo). to after Bridges' 10 bridges for Northland On the local politics front we see the electioneering stunt during the 2015 North- old boys' network at the Northland Regional Council (NRC) still very sour that the Tories got kicked to the curb spoiling their blind cheer-leading for road over rail. Late last month NRC Chairman Bill Shepherd put out this fabricated diatribe in his monthly report: “Other modes of transport are clearly important to Northland as well, however, no other mode of transport can effectively take the place of the 98% of our heavy trans- port that goes by road and the 100% of our tourist and light transport that also goes by road. For example, it would take a massive investment in rail (several billion dollars) to multiply the goods transported by rail by five times and still rail would be providing already got one foot in the grave with an land by-election. less than 10% of our transport solutions.” unpalatable proposal of an average 29% It will be very interesting to see the final Shepherd was backed up by NRC trans- rates' increase. If you want to dig a deeper draft of the NRC 10 year transport plan port committee chair John Bain. Who ex- hole then a NO rail option will be the final and whether this time a proper integrated actly do these clowns purport to represent? nail in your coffins. Your burials will be transport strategy is adopted. Certainly not pro rail members of the public made easy. I will be happy to read out your or numerous other Northlanders wanting a If not, citizens get an opportunity at eulogies." truly integrated transport strategy. next year's local body election to vote for Suffice to say, some of them will sud- Bain’s consistent churlish attacks on the representatives who are in tune with the denly find a spine they never thought they new government, demanding a gold plated, whole community. had against the old men's club. four lane highway south of Whangarei are Northland branch's Alby Barr reminded Brothers and sisters we trust you will all rapidly becoming boorish, and is disrespect- councillors before they go into the 10

The Transport Worker June 2018 Worker The Transport enjoy the change of (political) season. ful to the wider community of Northland. year transport plan deliberations: "You've 19

ing, the cab air tightness Rapa rosters and manning levels are still WAIKATO RAIL of DLs are being worked being worked on by the roster committee on, the Huntly yard lights of Mike Fleck, Graeme Ducker and Steve E had small but enthusiastic are to be improved, the Peacock. turnout for Workers' Memorial shift of Kinlieth from the Mt Maunganui The I&E members are working through Day, at the Te Rapa memorial, branch to the Te Rapa branch was agreed as a number of remits for this year's collective Wand the RMTU flag was flown at half-mast a good move , the anticipated arrival of the agreement negotiations based on relativities for the day. new Te Rapa branch manager who has a lot and increased responsibilities and re work- The next Just and Fair Culture training of rail experience in the UK, improving the ing the flexi worker clause as it seems to be day for Waikato will be held in early August. operation of the D&A policy to ensure that very confusing. The Waikato/Bay of Plenty local industri- everyone knows how it works, improve the There is an increased number of renova- al council met on April 30 at Mt Maunganui role of H&S reps in accident investigations tions at the CT site, a new smoko room and and the following issues were discussed: and ensure Waikato H&S reps receive the a new office for the CT operations leader. The provision of torches (which are being appropriate training, weed spraying from We held the Toll Networks claims meet- purchased), improve the supply for PPE, Te Rapa to Mission Bush is to be completed ing on May 17 with six claims being put servicing training is to be amped up, the asap, the poor radio reception in the Te forward by the Hamilton members. work on the Te Rapa sand tower is continu- Rapa yard is being worked on and the Te

the status quo. However, satisfaction. we have been advised that KiwiRail has agreed that they need to BAY OF PLENTY RAIL if the stropper leaves, that respond a lot quicker when there are staff position will not be re- shortages to ensure that the Kawerau yard UE to the high number of Bay is- placed as 'stropping is part can be worked safely. We resolved the issue sues which have been raised, an of normal duties'. of strop shortages as there was confusion informal local industrial council This means if the matter is not resolved as to who ordered the strops! meetingD was held to work through them. at KIC to the satisfaction of our members The Sulphur Point roster saga continues Those items included the stropping issue in Kawerau then a dispute will be raised with a meeting of the roster committee in Kawerau which we thought had been with KiwiRail. of Dean Smith and John Swindells with resolved, with the appointment of a per- The 'stropping rate' and AS link at Mu- management to be set up in an attempt to manent stropper which was returning to rupara have been resolved to the members' resolve it once and for all.

Christina Walker, Joe different components to the debate, coun- MaGuiness and Paul cils, forest owners, Genera, the Port of BAY OF PLENTY PORT Johnson-Lee from C3. Tauranga, Worksafe NZ and of course the HE C3 truck driver's collective All are keen to attend arrangements New Zealand has with the agreement (CA) negotiations are the next training course. destination countries such as India, China, moving along as C3 have supplied a We have finally initialled the POTL/ Japan and South Korea, who all have differ- RMTU CA, and it has been sent to the par- Tdraft agreement for negotiation. A bargain- ent log requirements. The group will agitate ties for signing. ing meeting is being planned with delegates towards a solution. The Ixom Morrinsville CA is up for re John Carmine and Paul Johnson-Lee. Paul Kleiss and Gordon Laing, have

negotiation on August 1 and we are wait- The Transport Worker June 2018 The C3 lasher's CA negotiations are recently retired. Paul was a linesman with ing for Kurt Spencer, our lead delegate, to moving along with a draft terms of settle- 40 years' service, and Gordon an electrician return from his duck shooting holiday so with 35+ years' service. All the best to you ment on the table. The delegates involved that we can hold a claims meeting. are Chuck Atkins and Sonny Mahia. The Champion CA expires on July 31 both for your retirement . The C3 logs tier 3A variation is still and the bargaining delegates Gary Cluitt On May 9, after a long battle with unresolved, but there is a planned meet- and Corey Power are looking forward to cancer, Lawrence Fougere [Fudge] passed ing on May 1 with the following delegates the renegotiations. away peacefully at his home in Tauranga. attending a Delegates One training course The branch is actively involved with the Fudge was a popular member of the RMTU at the Mount, Simon Naylor Port of Tau- Tauranga Moana methyl bromide action at Quality Marshalling where he worked as ranga, Kurt Spencer and Bevan Peacock, group which is attempting to eliminate a yardy and lately in security at the Port of both Ixom, Dallas Tamati, Jason Kuka, Neil the use of the substance in the port. It Tauranga. Fudge will sadly be missed by his Donaldson, Chuck Atkins, Sonny Mahia, is proving a hard slog as there are many workmates. 20 Around the branches

been re-sleepering four Napier. bridges north of Napier Closer to home progress is being made NAPIER RAIL on the Wairoa line over on the new workshops at the freight yard at the past month. It's been Ahuriri and it won't be long before we will ell isn't the year flying by? awesome to have other KiwiRail gangs be shifting from Hydraband Road. In April, the annual inspec- come and help with the work. Also we Napier RMTU branch welcomes Fungi tors' conference was held in have been busy on the upgrade of bridge Chawasarira to Napier track gang also Tylar WMasterton over three days. There was a 216 at Awatoto on the Palmerston North/ Pearson to the Dannevirke track gang. very good turnout from both South and Gisborne line (PNGL) with two new walk- Freight on the PNGL has been constant North Island inspectors. The conference ways, replacement of running beams and with large log trains and regular freight covered changes to detailed inspection 100% re sleeper which will be on going using the track. which comes into effect in 2019. until June some time. Our local branch AGM is coming up Training/succession planning and man- The heavy track gang from Palmerston in August. Wage negotiations between ning levels in structures gangs were also North has been working from Wairoa south RMTU and KiwiRail – interesting and fun talked about. putting in new turnouts with composite times ahead As to an update on what is happening sleepers. Meanwhile the signals team has All in all an extremely busy start to the in the Napier area: Structures gangs from been busy doing level crossing/safe road year. In unity and solidarity. Be safe 'til Napier, Taumarunui and Tauranga have upgrades and recertifications north of next time.

and a number of par- services, were given some 'petty cash' to ties to the table to nut carry on with some much smaller but im- HUTT WORKSHOPS out a plan to address portant projects in the interim whilst we ello to all as we prepare to round the issues at hand. We await the outcome of the Boards' financial off this financial year and get on colloquially called this the 'Row 10 incident' deliberations. with new projects for FY19. It which was the result of a breakdown in We hope to get some serious money to Hcontinues to be a busy year with locos, both documented and communicated in- address our biggest business liability – the wagons, passenger bogie sets and other formation. The required meeting involved wheel-set operation where the team has 'unplanned work' that suddenly becomes local management, Hutt HSAT, the RMTU, been nursing some seriously worn out and important requiring our attention. Not to KiwiRail property and the facilities manage- life-expired asset for several years now. We mention infrastructure upgrades to build- ment contractor. A three stage plan to rectify also hope that the news will be forthcoming ings to get them up to some percentage of things was subsequently produced, agreed this financial year and not the next! the building code. to, ratified, communicated and executed The Hotworks project appears to be Industrially, all has been rather quiet (see photos of Row 10). Never underesti- in some hot water. A large order to our now that the HPHE culture has been taught mate the power of a united front to to most management and staff and allowed address any serious issues or acts of to filter across the site. However, there was wrong doing! an incident earlier this year with our net- As indicated last issue, the board work services members reaching the end of directors (plus other dignitaries) of their already stretched tethers. visited the site in February to gain a This arose due to very sub-standard first-hand appreciation of the site and under-foot/wheel conditions in an outside the need for some serious investment storage area which resulted in the mighty to keep not just us, but the railway Red Card being pulled. This brought a very operation, operating. abrupt halt to the madness and frustration There were a number of short presentations to, and questions asked by, the Board to gain a clear understand- ing of the journey so far and the request for some capital in- vestment. As it turns out we, and in fact several parts of roll- The Transport Worker June 2018 Worker The Transport ing stock and asset 21 preferred supplier for a specific grade they were held but where's the docu- of (flame-resistant) overalls for welders mentation? seems to have gone up in smoke as we Both ANZAC Day at Petone Railway were supplied with sub-standard PPE, or Station and Workers' Memorial Day at at least something that was less than what Hutt were well attended and thanks we ordered. As we submitted these notes to delegates Ray Hagenaars and Slade for publishing, a number of guilty parties Pilcher for stepping up in the absence were seen scorching a path towards the of the branch secretary and chairman. hills after they were unable to cover their The staff survey results are out backsides with sufficient protection that with the data breakdown scheduled would withstand a robust audit. I hope for dissemination after the closing date some measure of accountability is forth- for these notes. Whilst we haven't been coming as we're talking about some serious given a copy of the latter, indications coin here under the auspices of health and are that we've scored pretty well and safety. Mismanagement of funds always has there appears to be a direct correlation a downstream negative impact on the rank between results and those areas of the and file staff and we all have an interest in company where HPHE has been intro- ensuring that all monies are well-spent. duced and put into play. This bodes well in Issue 4 of The Activist. A dates and rates Another question over accountability for the future as KiwiRail continues with this rollover seems to be preferred. What are is who the heck is meant to distribute the sort of investment in its people. your thoughts? Talk to your delegate. minutes from the MCC meetings? We have To round off, the MECA is up for re- Until next time, be safe and look out for not seen any from the last few. We know newal and details have just been published your mates.

The port security centre WELLINGTON PORT is as ever very busy, coping with the many contractors ia ora and greetings from the onsite as a result of the earth- windy city. The deconstruction quake. This on top of the continuing growth and rebuild of the container in containers, logging trucks and logging terminalK and other parts of the port is in shunts and the many car transporters enter- full swing. Extensive damage suffered as a ing and exiting the gates in a timely fashion. result of the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake has A truly stressful job which has seen our se- necessitated the demolition of a number of curity people stretched to the limit at times. cargo sheds and buildings around the port. The shift from straddle carriers to reach Workshop manager, Tim Gresham (l) and The container wharf, which suffered major stackers has kept the lads busy in the work- John Smith. damage and subsidence is in the process of shop. The port has purchased seven new being demolished with a full rebuild over Hyster reach stackers to compliment the future ie: straddles vs RTGs and bombcarts. the next few years. Our colleagues in Lyt- straddles until such time as a decision is Long serving member John (Smithy) tleton will full know what this is like. made as to how the terminal will work in the Smith from the maintenance team has hung The Transport Worker June 2018 22 Around the branches

up his overalls and entered into retirement. what become known as the 'Transformed training and upskilling the cargo handlers. John started his career with port back in workforce model'. Essentially a combina- Recruitment of a further 8 to 10 cargo the early 70s, took a break and returned to tion of the current cargo handlers and the handlers and maximising the use of the the UK for a spell only to once again return empty depot drivers into a single pool of cargo handlers to minimise the use of 3rd to the then Wellington Harbour Board as workers. All current P24s would be offered party contract labour. A ratification meeting a rigger. A diligent worker Smithy would the choice of becoming a P40 (unheard of was held on March 20 where the CA was always keep a check on the various crane in this scribe's opinion and possibly a 1st passed with a majority vote. wires about the port with his 20 litre tub for a NZ port) a fixed/flexi roster to mini- Be safe out there and watch your mates' of grease in hand. A great guy who will be mise fatigue and to have a better work/life backs sorely missed by his workmates. The branch balance and extensive resources put into wishes you all the best in your retirement 'Smithy'. October 2017 saw the commence- ment of our combined union's collective negotiations. With a new manager head- ing the Centreport negotiating team, it was an unknown to the combined unions as to how the talks would pan out in the upcoming weeks/months. Fortunately this manager took an entirely new approach. With new ideas and a real positive manner on how he thought things would progress. A refreshing change from previous contract negotiations. Based on the union claims to have real wage growth, recognition for shift work, skills recognition, hours of work/life bal- ance, fatigue management, and fairness across the differing work groups in the cargo section, the employer came back with

MARLBOROUGH PORT workers, four chief ex- construction and maintenance work. Larry ecutives, one pilot boat says his job at the port has enabled him N January 12 the staff at Port master and many family to support his family in their education Marlborough said goodbye to and friends. and sporting interests. Both Larry's sons Larry Patterson after 41 years of Larry joined the MHB on the 14/08/1977 have been accomplished rowers, one is a Oservice At his farewell we had present one (and the Harbour Workers Union) as a member of a NZ rowing team. Larry says "it's ex harbour master ,one ex wharfinger, tradesman mechanic and has been a key been great, there are a million things that four harbour engineers,10 past harbour member of the Port's workshop team ever we've done, changes to the ferry terminal, since, undertaking general engineering link spans, long arm and so on for all the different ferries. It's never been boring." He will continue to enjoy getting a plan and building something, he says. Evidence of his love of a good project: Larry built himself a light plane about ten years ago and has a second about half finished. "It's a good reward and enjoyable to feel like you've achieved something when you've finished a project Even today I go for a fly over Havelock and it's hard to believe what it is now from what it once was. The company has done something amazing over the 40 years."

The Transport Worker June 2018 Worker The Transport Larry Patterson (seated centre) surrounded by the workshop team. Enjoy your retirement our brother. 23

and log ships busier than ever, the pressure is on to NELSON PORT have a roster in place for cargo handlers. With the E have hit the busy season now push in place for a fatigue management sys- with fruit in full swing. With two tem it is a well-known fact that the number container services now calling one control for the hazard of fatigue is an on Saturday, Maersk taking all of Sunday W effective roster and organisation of labour. Port Nelson are endeavouring to enter the 21st century by instituting labour alloca- tion software as the job is now too big for the archaic manual system we have used in the past to allocate labour. While progress is glacial at best we are coming from a long way back. To be fair, at the time of writing this report, labour allocation is probably at Matt McKay operating the mobile crane. the worst it has ever been. It is not too much ough region. Quay Pack continue producing to ask that we have more than 24 hours' Flexi Tanks and loading containers with notice of when we are working so workers timber and MDF. can organise their lives. We still struggle The security department are busier than with a mainly casual labour force to staff a ever dealing with a number of entrances to business that operates 24/7. the port and transporting crew and main- Other areas of the Port continue to be taining the number of card checks to satisfy busy with Quay Connect dealing with the Maritime NZ. Hayden Stamp, hatchman. majority of bottles and wine for the Marlbor- Sickness, accident and death The New Zealand Locomotive Engineers’ Sickness, Accident and Death Benefit Fund In the last 10 years 230 locomotive engineers had to retire due to medical reasons. They received a total payout of $4,737,097 from the above Fund. LEs who didn’t belong to the Fund and who were forced to retire did not receive anything.

You could be next to miss out! For as little as $219 a year The Transport Worker June 2018 your future – or those of your next of kin – could be better assured. Contact: Attention LEs Debby Green, PO Box 813, Wellington Join this Fund now for Telephone: (04) 499–2066 Fax: (04) 471–0896 your own peace of mind [email protected] 24 Around the branches

R&D often now have trucks queued out this facility. So we continue to be busy with Union the gate and space in the container terminal The slip way remediation project and issues and with plenty of work. is at a premium. associated reclamation is almost complete Log volumes surge ahead as mature and will expand the log yard storage by a forests are harvested in the region and we significant factor. seem to have vessels queued up in the bay There is talk of the acquisition of new waiting to come in most weeks. Leibherr mobile harbour cranes. This is Still, the Port continues to grow as Lowe long overdue as our old LHM400s are well Street is acquired from the Council and past their use by date and starting to cost a Quay Connect will be brought inside the bundle to run. There is still a proposal to fence. The newly acquired straddle lifter finish the refurb of the main wharf so we will then transport containers to and from can use the whole thing.

members from both ceremony and are very moving. our branch and the Lyt- The RMTU's dispute at Lyttelton Port CANTERBURY RAIL telton Port branch turn has had a huge impact on the economy USY times at the Canterbury out in poor weather of the region and nowhere has this been branch. Let's start with the most and it was also very good to see such a more evident than on the railway. The Port important matter – health and strong presence from management. A big branch organised a very successful publicity safety.B We've made huge progress on the thank you to everyone who helped the day picket at the Heathcote end of the Lyttelton implementation of the introduction of go smoothly - including signals, operations rail tunnel and all trains stopped. This compressed air breathing apparatus for and train control who organised the trains generated a great deal of media coverage locomotive engineers operating in the to halt and the bells to sound at the cross- but the dignified and disciplined way our Otira Tunnel and by the time you read this ing near the memorial gardens. Those bells members organised the picket meant safety the issue should be resolved. It has been are the equivalent of the Last Post at our was not compromised and the message that a lengthy process and there have got out to the public was a positive been a few challenges along the one. A big thank you to everyone way, some requiring determined involved for keeping calm and advocacy on the part of the RMTU supporting our RMTU brothers representatives involved from and sisters at the port. both Canterbury and West Coast Of course, one impact of not branches. It's unfair to single out being able to take secondary individuals as it's been a team strike action under New Zealand's effort and one that has been sup- repressive anti-strike legislation ported by national office. Well was that we could not legally stop done to all – this is a fine example work and prevent the railing of of how we fight for the living. freight diverted to and from Port Which leads us nicely into Chalmers and Timaru port during reporting on the very good at- the Lyttelton strike and lockout. tendance we had at Workers' Me- This meant the dispute dragged morial Day this year: a fitting way on for longer than necessary. If rail to mourn the dead and reaffirm had stopped in support of the port our resolve to be relentless in our workers we are sure the employer struggle for the living. It was great would have been compelled to to have so many active and retired Peter Dalton, fitter team leader from servicing (l) and Luke James. settle very quickly. As it happened, The Transport Worker June 2018 Worker The Transport 25

KiwiRail made a lot of money moving goods we care to remember. Yet, you remained people retire: Wayne Solomon, Neil Bryant up and down the Main South Line! cool-headed through it all. Big shoes to from loco and Ed Foster-Lynam from me- The RMTU KiwiRail members in the fill for Malcolm but we know that he's up chanical. This represents a huge amount of service centre have settled into their new to the job. institutional knowledge going out the door. abode at Ensors Road where there is plenty In network services we have been We simply have to get on top of this if rail is of parking and space. A good job as they grinding through the usual individual to make the most of the opportunities that have been busy dealing with the impact of and collective issues. One challenge is the will come our way under a Government that the port strike. growing crisis in attracting suitable new is committed to making rail a key player in Over at Toll veteran delegate Tony staff. We are going to be in big trouble our transport infrastructure. Dreaver is stepping down and handing the very soon if KiwiRail don't improve their Finally, and on a positive note, it looks reins over to Malcolm Ross who did his ability to recruit the right people efficiently like the passenger service to Picton could delegate training in March, just in time for and smoothly. There has been good work be back on stream sooner rather than later. the commencement of the Toll wage round. done on this through an HPHE project our Our scribe hears 22 October is the target Thank you Tony for the immense amount branch secretary has been involved in but date, hopefully in time to make the most of work you have put in over the years with it's clear that if something tangible doesn't of next tourist season! a succession of challenges including two happen to how we recruit very soon, there Stay safe as and stick together as winter wage rounds, several major earthquakes, is a risk this work could be wasted. and wage talks get underway! and more changes of management than On that theme we've had a string of

working safely. ticians meant the public were treated to a WEST COAST RAIL Safety has very day of speeches, plays, songs and debates. much been top of the It was enlightening to hear so much positiv- N eventful few months here on the agenda in the Otira ity for workers coming from the politicians Coast as is usual. We recently had Tunnel and we've been working with the who attended – Poto Williams Labour MP a full train shut down to enable Canterbury branch and KiwiRail to ensure for Christchurch East in particular. that Worksafe's directives around the someA major works to be done including Very timely in view of the dispute be- the Aicken's Crossing upgrade; replacing a introduction of compressed air breathing tween our fellow members and Lyttelton damaged door on the Otira Tunnel; and re- apparatus (CABA) for locomotive engineers Port. Our branch was proud to make a placing ballast guards on bridge 48 Midland working in the tunnel is complied with. At Line. A great team effort by all involved to the time of writing we think we're there. modest donation to their strike fund. get the work done in some very challenging Another great team effort by the RMTU. Now with winter bearing down it's a weather conditions in the 36 hour window On Saturday April 28 Workers Memorial timely reminder to take care out in the field. provided. This demonstrates the commit- Day was commemorated in conjunction We work in some of the most difficult ter- ment and skill of our networks members in with May Day celebrations in Blackball. A rain in the world for a railway, so we have keeping the railway in good condition while great turnout of different unions and poli- to be world class on safety.

would be used against some time. When things did settle down TIMARU RAIL us if we took action. It's the Maersk container vessel was brought in about time the playing using a single tug but two bulk vessels had imaru Port has been – and is – a field was levelled. LPC to wait for the support of two tugs. hive of activity on both the business illegally locked out our comrades yet we

All very exciting but the kind of excite- The Transport Worker June 2018 and industrial fronts. can't legally take action in their support. ment we could do without. At least no-one TThe RMTU's dispute with Lyttelton Port That stinks. was hurt. The volume of freight coming across meant a great deal of freight was redirected We've just initiated bargaining for the wharf went up, as did the amount being to Timaru and our members at Quality the renewal of the RMTU-QM collective Marshalling (QM) fell foul of New Zealand's moved by rail. The impact of the action was plain to see. agreement and at the time of writing are vicious anti-strike legislation when they Then there was a fire on the Dong Won preparing claims. Fatigue management spoke of taking secondary action in support 701 which rapidly deteriorated. The tug Te and rostering is likely to be a top priority of our brothers and sisters up the coast. The Maru was committed to helping control the after the work we did at last year's RMTU exchange between delegates and manage- event and could not be released for ship- Ports Forum. We will keep you posted and ment remained amicable but it was made ping. To make matters worse there were hopefully have a result by the next edition very clear that the full weight of the law heavy swells which did not improve for of the branch notes. 26 Around the branches

OAMARU RAIL

ignals maintainer David Duncan hard at work at Oamaru track depot. David is a member of a very select group of RMTU members who live and work in Oamaru, Semployed by KiwiRail networks and operations and Toll, the jewel of the South. Oamaru is one of the most isolated towns in New Zealand if Air New Zealand is to be believed and it's the railway that gives the lie to this. The railway is maintained and operated by dedicated RMTU members and is the lifeline that connects Oamaru with Dunedin and Timaru. David and his partner have just bought a house in Oamaru and he is looking forward to playing his part in KiwiRail.

OTAGO RAIL retiring as delegate after is in the past we're all prisoners of history. some six years in the po- It seems that some managers are blaming USY times in the Otago rail branch sition and will hand over our recruitment people and the processes with Dunedin railways involved in the baton at the next AGM in July. He says he required to recruit new staff, and our re- the rebuild of SA/SD class carriages will continue to support the new delegate cruitment people are blaming managers previouslyB operated by Transdev Auckland and the union until then. You've done great for not being pro-active and pushing harder for the company Antipodean Explorer NZ. work Lyall and your combination of steely for more staff! Part of the problem seems They intend to introduce them as a luxury resolve and gentlemanly good manners has to be even after passing the high standard tourist train journey throughout New Zea- made you a formidable advocate for our required to start at KiwiRail we seem to land. In April, 16 carriages arrived at Dun- union and its members. We really appreciate sometimes recruit the wrong person for edin for conversion to sleepers, restaurant, all the effort and time you've put in. the wrong job. Also we miss out on pos- lounge and baggage cars, with another 15 to On the track side of KiwiRail, things sible candidates because we take too long follow. This means that Hillside Workshops are a bit of a challenge. Staffing issues exist to actually employ people. And by the time are now back in business as the perfect site throughout network services in New Zea- we have informed them that they have a job to store and work on such conversions – land and particularly in Otago. Historically offer with KiwiRail they have moved on to and the extra employment that will create. network services was normally targeted another employer. Usually when somebody when restructures came around as this is, Following the retirement of Dunedin applies for a job they are interested in the and has been, an easy fix for past managers Railways CEO Murray Bond, the new CEO job but are not going to wait around for Craig Osborne has arrived to take up the to save on expenditure when the pinch months to find out if their application is reins. He was, in a previous life, CFO came on. The result of this is a loss of successful or not. for Real Journeys, but that’s not as bad experienced staff (especially after the last What is the solution? Well maybe the as it seems as Craig has the intention of round of redundancies). In Otago, and if people on the interview panel could con- expanding Dunedin's railway business by the word going around the traps is on the sist of the manager in charge of the gang introducing new services and creating more money, in many other areas of KiwiRail, job opportunities for members and meet the there is a severe shortage of staff in this side where extra staff is needed. The ganger in increasing swell of tourist numbers coming of the business. We have a ganger being in charge of that particular gang (rather than our way. charge of himself, and a heavy maintenance someone working in an office and not really Joe Carson, guard at Dunedin Railways crew with a ganger and one staff member. at the coalface) and someone from recruit- has put himself out to pasture by retiring Vacancies are not being filled, and more ment. A happy trio that can make a decision after 47 years service to the various forms and more staff are hurting themselves at relatively quickly on two or three possible of New Zealand railways, and to Dunedin work leading to further pressure on staff- candidates. Drug and alcohol test should be railways with which he has been associated ing. The injuries may be a direct result of required on that day. The security checks from the beginning. Joe has always been a under staffing, stress at having to complete should happen quickly and we should be on stalwart of the union movement. His last large job tasks that have been set with small our way to employing a new staff member. train was to Middlemarch and he had his staff numbers, and just the general stress of Oh yes, one more thing, perhaps offering own carriage attached, full of workmates, having to work long and hard to cover for a more attractive starting rate would go a friends and well wishers along for his final the lack of people. long way in today's employment environ- trip. All the best Joe. ment. Too easy? Maybe, but it would be a The Transport Worker June 2018 Worker The Transport So how have we come to this stage? Re- Lyall Kelpe, train manager at Dunedin is dundancies have happened and while that start. 27

Coming down the weather coat and trousers. With a roll out ladder a bit we have of other items specific to work area items, PORT CHALMERS the Southfreight depot down the track. This project is before the manager, retiring, and board of directors as I scribe this. The sup- ITH the retirement of Geoff the depot supervisor of container services plier has been picked and all clothing items Plunket, and the new CEO being promoted to depot manager of Port are off the shelf for quick supply. Research taking over the helm, there has Otago container services and also being has been done on the laundry of the items Wbeen quite a lot going on with the manage- made responsible for both port and town and it looks like the overalls will be dry ment structure within Port Otago in the last depots. The name change for Southfreight cleaned as opposed to washing. few months. Ltd is Port Otago City Depot, with the man- The rostering project on the other hand The first to jump ship was the general ager being replaced by a supervisor. is hitting a few brick walls by the sound of it manager warehousing. He has been re- The terminal operations manager's posi- and we are unsure how far down the track placed by the planning and control man- tion has been removed and in its place two it is. Would be great to get a plan together ager moving over to take that slot, and the new manager positions have been created: for terminal staff and get away from having company recruiting from outside for that ship operations manager and yard opera- to phone in at 3pm each day to find out position. By the sounds of it they are getting tions manager. your next shift. an individual who is willing to listen to staff. So as you see from above there may have Had a problem with one of the company Next to go was general manager com- been quite a shake up by the CEO. The new side loaders going on fire, so now they have mercial. Recruiting is still in progress by the broom and all that. all been fitted out with fire suppressing sound of it. The next to throw the towel in Projects that are currently being worked equipment. The operator of the side loader was general manager human resources and on are, Project Orange and a roster project had to jump off the side of the machine, taking with her the plant services manager. for the terminal team. and is now at home on ACC after his trip Stepping up to the plate for the HR spot is Project Orange is a PPE (high visibility and fall activity. the HR advisor and the mechanical super- clothing) project that will kit out all staff The daylight hours may be shorter now, visor has moved up to the plant services with fit-for-purpose clothing to include but we are still the sunny south. No frosts manager's seat. shirts, trousers, polar fleece, overalls, wet to talk of yet.

The DCs are prone to age everyone involved in shift work to read SOUTHLAND RAIL sparking track side veg- this document and introduce it to the boss. etation. All these calcu- On the staffing front we have had an LE ongratulations to former lations are included into team leader appointed. The previous one branch chair Gavin Mortimore on making up the footplate time which deter- only retired 18 months ago. Talk about reaching retirement after 47 years mines the length of a shift which is already pulling hens' teeth! serviceC in rail. Mort has been a stalwart at the maximum of 10 hrs. Our suspicion Fonterra at Edendale is now down to supporter and active member of the RMTU is that we are in excess of that time and it about five million litres a day. On March 27 and was our general secretary's best man won’t stand up to scrutiny. We have more the Dunedin yard gang turned up to start at his wedding. Mort, we want to give you information on this on the way. work on the loop. They started from 4R a heartfelt thanks and to wish you a long, Moral of the story? Don’t leave it up to Edendale to the old water tank.(Yes, there happy and healthy retirement. We know you the employer to set the parameters which is still one at Edendale and it is for sale. It won't be a stranger and we look forward to impacts on your health and safety. Chal- dates back to 1901 – that's almost older than keeping you entertained with stories of how lenge everything. Mort). They started work on walkways then the railway survives without you. There was a rumour of running some they disappeared after two weeks. The Transport Worker June 2018 In other news, Invercargill LEs have coal out of Nightcaps to Bluff but the latest We know network services are short asked for the company to provide the detail is it’s not going ahead. Rail's price is no staffed and this is an example of the practical around an A level, at risk shift, 2035-0635. cheaper than road. Good news is that we impact of that. So far we have discovered that the timetable will be continuing to carry coal ex Nightcaps The concrete sleepers are here but not was written for double headed DXs pulling to Clandeboye through our traditional off going anywhere. There are no new rails to 2000t. season replace the old for the loop so you guessed The reality is DFT DC combo is some- There is the usual drama around ros- it, the old rail is going back in. As for road what less powerful and slower. We’ve also tering. The roster centre doesn’t seem to one, it has four broken rails, all patched found out that there have been no provision understand that rostered time off is the goal up. The eight point turn down the south made for the reduced horse power of the for at-risk shifts, not bust time. end has now been replaced. It is now only notch six limit on the DCs which happens We are taking a keen interest in the Phil- a three point turn. in the summer to prevent track side fires. lipa Gander report on fatigue and encour- Stay safe and stay warm! 28

Workers' Memorial Day Around the country workers gathered at memorial sites to remember dead (and injured) colleagues who arrived at work but didn't return home. This issue we focus on two of those services: Dunedin and Hawke's Bay. Napier Port N Napier this year we observed WMD on Friday April 27. On this day 13 years ago, when we lost Corben Frickleton in an incident while tying up a vessel on Four Wharf. Corben'sI dad, Ted and his wife Suzanne attended. A very successful turn out on a sun-filled Hawke's Bay day. A large contingent of RMTU members turned out plus folk from MUNZ, ETU, the local press and Napier Port management – three of whom spoke including the new CEO. There were many speakers throughout, all sharing their thoughts and stories and bringing a tear to the eye over the loss of workmates and whanau. A big thanks to our industrial chaplain, Marty Rochford as MC.

(l to r) Life member, Tim Spence, Dunedin yard delegate and RCO Russell Storey, Pat Tutty, Brian McKay and Davie Kearns. Dunedin on the Kiwi bloke’s attitude of carrying on with a task regardless of safety concerns. Another person NLY about 25 people came to the service noted that workers know their industries best and this year - a poor turnout considering will take care of their own health and safety if the the day has been fought for by union threat of industrial action is real. In countries where Omembers worldwide. It is relevant to making the right to strike hasn’t been removed by law, the our workplaces safe so we need to address this. accident/death rate at work is a fraction (1/4) of However, a Dunedin City Councillor suggested what it is in New Zealand. Take note New Zealand The Transport Worker June 2018 Worker The Transport workplace accidents and deaths could be blamed Labour Party!