- by Graham Holton
- The Guardian
- Issue #2206
CityFerry operating on the Brisbane River that provides mostly cross-river services. Photo: John Robert McPherson – wikimedia.org (CC BY-SA 4.0)
As well as the ferries, Brisbane has also seen strong union industrial action at Cleveland Youth Detention Centre, Queensland Rail, and Qantas. Employers, conservative commentators and the Courier-Mail are portraying the Riverfire action as an attack on the public.
Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) at Cleveland Youth Detention Centre undertook a 12-hour strike as it escalates its campaign at Queensland youth detention centres. The AWU is seeking 6 per cent annual wage increases for three years and 100 additional staff, arguing that overcrowding and staff turnover are creating serious safety problems. Workers are facing violence regularly and staffing levels are inadequate.
There is an ongoing industrial dispute involving the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU), Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU), and the Electrical Trades Union (ETU). Earlier protected action included restrictions by train controllers and other workers. Some elements of the dispute have continued despite agreements being reached with some unions in July. The dispute is the largest industrial-relations conflict in Brisbane.
Queensland Rail had reached in-principle agreements with several unions, including an 8.5 per cent pay increase over three years for workers covered by those agreements. However, negotiations involving the RTBU and AMWU have continued. Queensland Rail says 37 trains remain unavailable, and the full timetable is not expected to return for months. The union is linking wages with the quality and safety of a public service, rather than a simple pay claim.
Qantas is an emerging Brisbane issue. Nationally, 350 Qantas ground-services employees represented by the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) voted 97 per cent in favour of industrial action. No strike date has been announced, but the union can give three days’ notice. This could become relevant to Brisbane Airport if the action includes the airport’s ground operations.
Union members of ‘Together in Child Safety and Youth Justice’ (TCSYJ) commenced industrial action in August. They wore stickers, put up posters, and added their signatures to emails sent as part of the industrial campaign for better wages and conditions, and adequate resourcing for work.
Together coordinated a vigil outside Parliament House for children who the system is failing. The state government applied to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) to have work bans overturned.
