Transport Workers’ Union Will Fight For Job Security Under Bus Privatization Plan

24 Oct 2019

The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) has vowed to take the fight up to the NSW government over job security and protection of working conditions.

State Secretary Richard Olsen said, “As of today with the prospect of the NSW government privatising State Transit, thousands of bus drivers are facing confusion and insecurity about what the future will hold for them.”

“We met with the Minister’s office just last week to convey our concerns of the effects of competitive tendering and the need for added protections of job security, and industry standards of pay, conditions and entitlements in all future contracts.”

“As the bus drivers’ union, the TWU will continue to take that argument and fight, if necessary, up to the Government and Transport for NSW until we have the protections needed for the drivers.”

“As with the privatisation of the Inner West (Region 6), we will be working just as hard to represent the drivers in Regions 7, 8, and 9 from today onwards,” Mr Olsen said.

“We’re all doing the same job, so we should all be treated the same and have the same terms and conditions.”

The Transport Workers’ Union currently represents thousands of bus drivers as the sole representative union in the private industry. The Union has agreements covering bus operators in the Sydney Metro, Outer Metro (Central Coast, Hunter, Blue Mountains, Wollongong), and regional and rural areas (from the Far North Coast to Queanbeyan).