North West Drivers Offer Greyhound Two Options

• General News
• 16th May 2014

We had to struggle for our right to access the Greyhound Australia troops on the big Wheatstone project near Onslow but pay talks are now well underway.

We've had several good meetings with the bus drivers including one recently attended by our state secretary Rick Burton.

With the company calling in their big guns we decided to bring in ours.

The drivers now know the TWU has a strong and consistent presence in the North West and that we are in for the long hauls.

A log of claims has been presented to Greyhound that gives them two options.

Option One has a base salary plus overtime penalties, etc

Option Two has annualised "all inclusive" salaries averaged over the roster.

We believe the bus drivers should be paid no less than other North West vehicle drivers with the same licence classification – HR with an F Class.

They can claim a higher level of responsibility because they carry passengers. The drivers say their human freight is far more valuable than a load of red dirt for example.

The drivers work a four weeks on - one week off roster and are not paid on their weeks off.

However, under Option Two they will be paid over 52 weeks, including their weeks off, to ensure they don't run short of cash.

Greyhound favours the second option but their offer falls short of what we believe is a reasonable rate.

They keep saying their client, project managers Becthtel, will have to approve any pay increases. Presumably they want Bechtel to cough up the extra cash.

We now have a pretty strong membership and the troops understand they might have to fight for the best possible outcomes.

It's getting to the stage where their considerable patience is wearing thin.