Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about an important matter affecting some rail workers in my electorate. The Sydney Metro Northwest is scheduled to commence operations in May and, now the project is nearing completion, the north-west metro trains facility and operations centre is located in that part of Rouse Hill that is in my electorate. I've recently been made aware of a series of industrial issues at the metro site, including concerns about rosters, the lack of fatigue management standards, work-life balance and even matters as basic as how much workers are going to be paid. These conditions matter. They are standard across the rail industry and have been designed to keep workers safe and, in doing so, to keep safe the hundreds of thousands of passengers who use public transport every day.

I have been informed that last week Sydney Metro terminated the employment of a Rail Tram and Bus Union delegate without a reason. I'm informed that Sydney Metro has relied on spurious reasons at best to support their action to terminate this delegate's employment. I am also informed there are very serious concerns that the delegate's employment was terminated due to his involvement with the union, including his attempts to fight for a fair agreement for all operational employees. I do hope that this is not the case and that these matters are promptly resolved.

Workers, no matter where they are, have the right to bargain and organise collectively, and they should be able to do so without facing intimidation or the fear of reprisal. These matters need to be addressed urgently, so I say to the workers at Sydney Metro: I stand in solidarity with you in your fight for the fair workplace agreement you deserve.