UNITE! NEWSLETTER ISSUE 24 | SEPTEMBER 2020 SPRING EDITION CDC VICTORIA’S QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER FEATURING UPDATES, DEVELOPMENTS AND THE PEOPLE WHO DRIVE THE BUSINESS. 15,000 FACE MASKS GEELONG DRIVER BOB MILROY DONATED TO CHARITY RESCUES TODDLER RETURNS TO WORK PAGE 8 PAGE 10 PAGE 11 INSIDE CONTENTS CEO’S Message .................................................. 3 From your SDM’s ................................................. 4 News .................................................................... 6 News .................................................................... 7 Spotlight .............................................................. 8 Profile ................................................................. 10 Community ........................................................ 12 Feature ............................................................... 14 Guessing game ................................................ 16 11 10 12 8 6 7 WELCOME ONBOARD TO ALL OUR NEW EMPLOYEES Kalpesh Bhadauria (OAKLEIGH), Beth Rhodes (Specialist Schools Supervisor) & Bernie Loveridge, (MILDURA), Manpreet Singh, Albert Rachapudi, Theodoros Fotakis & Euan Beaton (TULLAMARINE), Gerard Flynn (formerly from Geelong), Ian Howlett, David Turner, Shaun Nicolson, Raj Sohal (formerly from Wyndham) & Michael Alexander (BALLARAT), SINGH, Navjot Singh, Harminder Singh, Sunny Singh, Darryl Moodie, Rod Stevenson, Jeanette Well (transfer from Wyndham), Sukjinder Singh, Chris Siers, Austin Mak & Darren James (GEELONG), Fekadu Woldeyes, Parul Gupta, Hannah Doull & SharnyIpsa (WYNDHAM). 2 Unite! | CDC Victoria Newsletter WELCOME CEO’S MESSAGE Welcome to the Our current contractual performance around on-time September edition running, early running and passenger experience are of Unite. excellent. These are important indicators that provide Government real evidence and confidence that we are Six months ago, I did not providing a great service. think we would still be in the grip of this pandemic On that point, our on-time and early running have in September. I thought we been trending positively for some time now, so thank would be enjoying the nice you very much. Passenger experience is a little bit spring weather with family more difficult to guage as the main to assessment outings aplenty. It has of this is the number of complaints. Reducing the been a stark reminder of number of complaints is essentially the key objective. fragile life can be and how Complaints are inherently very subjective and can at important it is to be safe, happy and healthy. I would times be attributed to personality and how behaviour is like to encourage everyone not to be a slave to this perceived and not intended. Understanding that we are pandemic; and try and enjoy a walk or some exercise operating in very challenging environment and the key to clear the mind. Simply getting outside and enjoying is to always treat others the way that you would like to the spring weather with family or friends can be a very be treated and we should be fine. positive step. It is about 12 months since we conducted the free, There is no doubt that we all deal with these pressures confidential health checks courtesy of our NPT differently so we need to be there to support each other. Ambulance staff. We intend to provide a follow up Please don’t hesitate to talk to friends or workmates opportunity once COVID-19 is more under control. We about how you are feeling. If there is one thing that I had great feedback last year as many employees found have noticed, it is the positive bonds that exist between the health checks very useful. our staff. Please continue to respect and support each From a company perspective, we want to remain other and maybe just extend that chat to someone who active in our communities supporting local initiatives you may not normally talk to as much. so we have continued our support of youth leadership Please don’t forget also that the company provides a programs with Western Bulldogs and Werribee FC. free and confidential counselling service to employees We are also continuing our support of Parks Victoria and their families who might be struggling. If you would by being involved in the new Dementia Trail at like to access this service, call Converge International on Woowookarung Park in Ballarat. This is an amazing 1300 687 327. development of a park that will be enjoyed by the community for many years to come. We are continuing The passenger numbers continue to be down but our commitment to reduce emissions by growing the activity behind the bus stops is hotting up. We our Hybrid fleet to be the largest in Australia. I am are currently bidding for Friday and Saturday 24 hour very proud to work for a company that shows great services, the Night Rider service and two new routes in commitment to our community and our people. There Wyndham. Tarneit to Williams Landing and Werribee is no wonder that we attract great people to join the to Tarneit via Tarneit West. While we are well placed CDC team. geographically, these will be hotly contested tenders. This means our competitors have the very same Finally, I would like to thank each and every one of you opportunity to bid for this work. These tender processes for the commitment to providing our community with take a long time and if we are successful, we will such a great service. Great work, thank you so much certainly let you know as soon as possible. and please stay safe. It is our goal to continue to grow and provide security Sincerely, and opportunities for all so we will be doing our best. Apart from the cost factors, Government will also assess Jeff Wilson our ability to perform as an operator. Chief Executive Officer – CDC Victoria Unite! | CDC Victoria Newsletter 3 NEWS SUNSHINE FROM YOUR SERVICE Hello from Sunshine. As we all know we are currently facing a unique time. I cannot thank the team at Sunshine DELIVERY MANAGERS enough for the efforts to adapt to the current Pandemic and the TULLAMARINE OAKLEIGH professionalism shown to remain safe, follow the directions of the Chief Health What an unusual few months we Can you believe there’s only 3 months till Officer to wear masks, maintain social have had. In a time when we have Christmas? I’m sure I don’t stand alone distancing, etc. Unfortunately, we have so many concerns and questions it is in wanting 2020 to be over quickly as it seen three staff members contract comforting to know that together hasn’t been the best year for any of us. COVID through close contact with a we have united and taken care of The last time I wrote to you, we were in confirmed case in their household. All each other. Stage 3 lockdown and everyone believed three drivers have since recovered and A big thank you to all my staff who it could not get any worse. are either about to return to work or have returned free from the virus. This have embraced our guidance and Unfortunately, it did get worse and Stage goes as a reminder if you feel unwell looked after themselves, colleagues 4 lockdown was enforced on us as a or are showing symptoms please do and our passengers. The simple things means to stop the spread of Coronavirus. from reporting a cold and letting not attend work, get a COVID test, and While the majority of us still came to us monitor it, to picking up a bottle contact the depot to advise. work each day, the lockdown rules saw of disinfectant (because they had the introduction of mandatory masks, On another note, there needs to be a some spare time) and wiping down mandatory work permits for essential special mention to our yard staff and frequently used surfaces, to wiping workers, a reduction of our 601 service and rail standby drivers for the huge effort down cabins before and after use. other changes in the way we operate. they are putting in every day to ensure It’s been wonderful to have everyone our fleet of vehicles/ depot space are I would like to thank each and every one pitching in to ensure the safest sanitized and fogged. This ensures we are of you for complying with these changes, environment we can possibly have. providing a safe space for both our drivers being vigilant and looking after each other and passengers catching our services. A special thanks to all my cleaners - as this has kept our depot COVID free. you have gone above and beyond. We will continue looking at evolving our We now have had a toilet allocated for You’ve worked extremely hard processes as we have done so throughout use at St Albans Railway Station. You will and remained committed during the year, while introducing new processes need to use your Myki pass to access this trying time. You are very much designed to keep you all safe and to keep the platform to use the toilet and also appreciated by all of us, thank you for our depot COVID free. the toilet has been keyed to a PE2 lock not just doing the bare minimum but and must be locked after each use. for going above and beyond the call In the meantime, let’s stay positive and A lot of work has gone into securing continue doing the things that have kept us of duty. this access and we need to ensure we safe. There is light at the end of the tunnel respect this facility or risk losing it. And a final note of gratitude to the and I’m sure we’ll get there together. team at head office. It’s been amazing Until next time STAY SAFE! to see the level of care and dedication Kaz Abdulrahman, you have provided to getting things SDM at Oakleigh Depot Shaun Lawson, SDM at Sunshine Depot right for us all. The management and concern shown to positive COVID cases at other depots has been reassuring. GEELONG consider swapping the location of We know that COVID has sent its the stop signs to further reduce the challenges and to date, you have all I would like to thank all our staff in risk of collision and they are currently managed to attack it head on and Geelong for rising to the challenges evaluating this.