Queensland Rail has reached an in-principle deal with unions on half of its disputed enterprise agreements – but rail drama for commuters is set to continue.
Unions, including the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, have been taking protected industrial action as part of their negotiations for new enterprise bargaining agreements. Services have been reduced to the equivalent of a Saturday timetable, to allow the operator to cope with a maintenance backlog.
On Tuesday night, Queensland Rail reached an in-principle deal with unions on three of its six enterprise agreements after intensive bargaining in a Fair Work Commission process since May.
Some conditions as part of the in-principle deal were still being negotiated.
Queensland Rail said the reduced south-east Queensland timetable would continue due to a backlog of train maintenance, continued protected industrial action, and ongoing negotiations across the remaining agreements.
In a statement, a QR spokeswoman said the in-principle agreement delivered a “fair and reasonable deal for rail workers”.
“While Queensland Rail recognises this is positive progress, the in-principle agreement comes with conditions that are subject to further negotiations,” she said.
“Therefore, final agreement cannot be confirmed until these conditions are either satisfied or waived.”
The three in-principle agreements were reached were the Administrative, Professional and Technical (ASPT) Enterprise Agreement; the Travel and Tourism and Other Employees Enterprise Agreement; and the Station Operations Enterprise Agreement.
Conditions included an 8 per cent wage increase over three years plus an additional cost of living relief payment of up to 2.5 per cent over three years, in line with the Queensland government-owned corporations wages policy.
There will also be a strategic delivery allowance, an incentive to deliver major projects, and backpay from June 1, 2026.
The three in-principle agreements cover almost 3500 employees.
The final offer remained subject to the Queensland Rail board and government approvals.
The remaining agreements being negotiated were the Train Control Enterprise Agreement, Network Enterprise Agreement, Rollingstock and Operations Enterprise Agreement, and a proposed electrical-only agreement being pushed by the Electrical Trades Union.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
