Page 90 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 16 February 1993
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MINISTER FOR URBAN SERVICES
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY QUESTION
QUESTION No 482
ACTION - Stop Work Meetings
Mr Westende asked the Minister for Urban Services:
(1) Can the Minister reveal the outcome of the discussions held during the recent stop work by ACTION bus drivers.
(2) Is the Government still on course with its ACTION cost saving target of $10 million over the next three years.
(3) Can the Canberra public anticipate further inconvenience through stop work action by drivers over negotiations to make the bus service more efficient
(4) Is it necessary for all the ACTION employees to stop work for negotiations with the employer. Is not this the role of the union.
Mr Connolly - the answer to the Members question is as follows:
(1) The specific issues discussed at the stop work meeting are matters
for the Transport Workers Union. Consultative ACTION
Budget Working Parties were established at my instigation and
have been meeting to investigate measures to achieve
ACTIONs cost savings. It is understood that the stop work
meeting provided the driver representatives with a mandate to
discuss various issues within the Budget Working Parties
deliberations.
(2) Yes. The Government remains committed to the cost saving target for ACTION.
(3) Some minor inconvenience may occur if union and management agree that a further meeting of all drivers is necessary to advance the savings issue. Should such a meeting be necessary it would be held to ensure minimum inconvenience to the public.
(4) The Government is committed to proper consultation and where major changes are involved all staff may need to be briefed consistently and accurately. This is negotiated with the union. The distribution of staff across the three depots and the problems of availability created by shift work make any other approach labour intensive and less reliable for the accurate dissemination of information to employees.
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