Essential Services !

The right to disagree over what we are paid comes with a number of options in Australia.  The obvious one is to quit and go and find another job which offers better money.  Joining a union delivers the safety of " Collective Bargaining " when it comes to negotiating pay and that brings with it the option of strike action if agreement can not be reached.

There are some professions that are deemed to be " essential services " and for which the strike option is unthinkable.  That certainly includes the armed forces that protect this country from external threats and the police services which maintain civil order.  Many people would also apply that term to the doctors and nurses who staff our hospitals and the fire service responders.

We were about to experience a complete shutdown of the New South Wales train system because the people who drive the trains have rejected a pay offer but that has now been deferred to March by way of a "no strike " order from the Fair Work Commission. It seems that negotiations between the union and the government reached a settlement that the union approved and this was put to the 6,100 members involved for decision by way of a text message on their mobile hones.  It is believed that this message asked for a return verdict if the pay offer was approved, but left the option of a rejection open.

Just 362 members bothered to respond in the affirmative.  We are unaware how many sent a negative reply, but the union took the stance that all unanswered messages were automatically a denial of the offer.  This strike would cost the NSW economy more than a hundred million dollars and many low income casual workers will lose a days pay.  Perhaps it is time our transport system received essential service status.

The only way essential services pay can be insulated from the dickering between the unions and government is to place its decision in the hands of a respected third body - and the High Court of Australia is such a trusted institution.   We accept the verdict of the High Court on matters that divide politics and sometimes intrude on the basics of religion and making it the arbiter of pay levels for essential services would seem to deliver a degree of fairness.

Train drivers are demanding a pay increase of six percent a year over each of the next four years and this contrasts with the government offer of a 2.5% increase.   Train drivers are skilled people and most receive in excess of $100,000 a year.   A demand for a twenty-five percent increase over four years would imbalance other public service pay, and this pay agreement accepted by the union - and rejected by the drivers - was for just a small increase on that original 2.5% offer.

The danger is that militant essential service workers using the strike weapon to force excessive pay increases may force the railways to adopt driverless trains as a necessity, before all safety aspects are fully evaluated. This will eventually be inevitable, but the human element is still the safest option as technology develops and most passengers feel safer knowing that a human is controlling the train.

In this instance, the union is being reasonable and it is the rank and file exhibiting greed.  Our economy is now so finely balanced that a  to return to the industrial chaos that was so prevalent in yesteryear is unthinkable !