Union delivers consultation around station rostering!

The Services Union met with QR last week to discuss changes proposed in Stations due to the Government’s 50-cent fare initiative which commences on 5 August 2024.

Following that meeting, our Union wrote to QR outlining our concerns around the changes and lack of consultation regarding:
  1. Insufficient resources in stations (primarily due to significant vacancies);
  2. The lack of consultation with the workforce about the upcoming changes in stations, particularly regarding rostering; and
  3. QR’s failure to comply with Schedule 2 of the Agreement, which deals with rostering.
A copy of our correspondence can be found here.

Today the Services Union undertook further discussions with QR, as these issues remained unresolved. Following those discussions, QR has since committed to:
  1. Facilitate information sessions for Stations staff between 29 July and 2 August 2024 regarding the rosters proposed for the weeks commencing 5 August and 12 August 2024. During these sessions, you can ask questions and provide feedback about the proposed changes.
  2. Hold more thorough consultation sessions for the forward rosters – those to be posted after 19 August 2024 until the 50c fare trial concludes. During this process, QR will seek and consider feedback around how effective the changes to rosters have been.
  3. Establish, and set meetings for, the ‘Rostering Consultative Committee’ per Schedule 2 Item 5 of the Enterprise Agreement.
These commitments are the direct result of The Services Union’s intervention.

Our Union recognises that workplace change is often daunting and can create uncertainty. That’s why we’ve secured the following commitments from QR:
  1. Addressing resourcing issues by filling vacancies by December 2024;
  2. Operational roster changes will involve more stable rosters;
  3. Staff will be financially the same or better off compared to master rosters;
  4. No changes to the lengths of shifts as per current master rosters;
  5. Rostered weekend shifts and shift worker status will be honoured for those affected (noting that staff may be redeployed to GSM/”premium” locations during their shift);
  6. The network will have 10-hour shifts on Saturday and 10-hour shifts on Sunday;
  7. Affected locations will approve overtime for extending shifts by 4 hours and for weekends, where required to ensure attendance Monday through Friday from the first train until around 1900 - 2000 hrs (depending on locations), and between the hours of 0700 - 1700 on weekends;
  8. All shifts will be backfilled where leave is taken;
  9. There will be no operational roster changes for graded staff.
The Services Union knows that our Stations members play a vital role in our community, and we remain firmly committed to keeping our stations strong.

If you have any queries, please contact your Workplace Delegate, or reach out to our office by: Regardless of where you work in QR, The Services Union is by your side. If you work with someone who is not yet a member, joining is easy online.

ASU is the Union fighting for our members at Queensland Rail.