January 17, 2019
Union Demands Plan for Rail Maintenance Jobs
The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union NSW Branch is demanding that the NSW government plan for the future of rail maintenance jobs.
Documents leaked to the Sydney Morning Herald this morning indicate that rail maintenance jobs in Sydney will be under threat from the new regional rail fleet that will replace the XPT, Xplorer and Endeavour Trains.
Meanwhile the Minister Andrew Constance has been telling people that there will be "no job losses as a result of the regional train fleet".
The union condemns Minister Constance's failure to be upfront with the people of NSW and the workers of Sydney Trains.
The AMWU is demanding a comprehensive plan for the future of rail maintenance in NSW.
The Liberal government has already undermined our maintenance capacity by refusing to build trains locally. They have offshored thousands of good, local jobs by building the New Intercity Fleet in Korea, the Sydney metro in Spain and the Waratah Series 2 in China.
Census data has indicated that since the NSW Liberal government came to power there has been a 54% decline in the number of rail technicians and trades workers in the state.
The NSW government's failure to invest in maintenance has been a source of chronic delays across the network. For our city to have a world-class train system, there has to plan to maintain them.
The work our members do every day keeps our rail system functioning. It is time they had a NSW government who has their back.
