Queensland Rail and unions reached a stalemate following a 7.5-hour mediation session at the Fair Work Commission, with both parties agreeing to resume negotiations to resolve the ongoing dispute.
The ongoing Queensland Rail industrial dispute is no closer to resolution, with both sides agreeing to go back to the table after a marathon 7½-hour mediation session at the Fair Work Commission in Brisbane ended in stalemate.
Unions and Queensland Rail walked into the commission’s Eagle Street offices on Thursday for a 10.30am behind-closed-doors hearing. Cameron Atfield Rail, Tram and Bus Union Queensland state secretary Peter Allen said Thursday’s negotiations were a hard slog, with no real breakthrough, and it could be six weeks before all issues were resolved.
“I’m an optimistic person, but I would have liked to have seen a little bit more progress,” he said. “But like we say, progress is usually measured in retrospect, so I suppose we’ll see what happens tomorrow. ” Allen said unions had agreed to return to the Fair Work Commission on Friday for more talks, which had so far been “sensible, occasionally robust, but fairly straightforward discussions”.
The RTBU was one of seven unions involved in enterprise bargaining with Queensland Rail. One point of contention has been Almost 25 minutes later, Queensland Rail chief executive Kat Stapleton told waiting media they were yet to see a “reduced and reasonable” log of claims.
“We will be back tomorrow at 1pm to receive the revised – and, I’m hoping, reasonable – offer,” she said on Thursday evening. Like Allen, Stapleton would not go into detail about what was discussed in the commission on Thursday, but she said she remained hopeful of a resolution, despite Thursday’s lack of progress.
“People need us to provide the services, and I believe truly that people will find a way to resolve this and we will be resuming full services for the people of Queensland,” she said. With the Stafford byelection and the high-profile Magic Round next weekend, the pressure is on all sides to break the deadlock.
“We are in a fuel crisis and we’re asking Queenslanders to potentially catch public transport if they can’t afford fuel in their car, and yet the unions have deliberately sabotaged the rail network, which has caused huge grief for many Queensland families,” he said. “It is their right to take industrial protected industrial action, but we have been – as a government and Queensland – negotiating in good faith.
Queensland Rail Industrial Dispute Fair Work Commission RTBU Labor Negotiations
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