Road Safety Remuneration Bill is a union grab for power and would not improve safety, the manager of ATA NSW

http://www.tandlnews.com.au////article/ATA-attacks-Safe-Rates/UURHGSZSAR.html
he Federal Government’s Road Safety Remuneration Bill is a union grab for power and would not improve safety, the manager of ATA NSW, Jill Lewis, said. ATA NSW is a member association for NSW trucking operators.

The government’s bill would establish a new tribunal that would have the power to set payment rates in the trucking industry, Ms Lewis said.

“In conjunction with our industrial relations partner, Ai Group, ATA NSW has analysed the bill and made a submission with a supporting letter to the House of Representatives committee inquiry into the legislation.

“The submission and our letter point out that the bill would not improve safety. The government’s own regulatory impact statement admits that no causal link has been established between payments and safety, despite endless inquiries paid for by taxpayers at the urging of the TWU.

“Instead, the bill is nothing but a union power grab. Under section 19 of the bill, unions would have an almost unfettered right to apply for road safety remuneration orders. But employer associations would have to get leave to apply – and identify all the employers they were representing in the application.

“These provisions would most likely lead to industrial retribution against small business employers, and show the bill is not about safety – it’s about power.

“In addition, the bill would enable the tribunal to impose orders on businesses that do not directly employ drivers. For example, if a company were to engage a contractor to do a road freight task, and the contractor then subcontracted the work further, the original company could be held to account for commercial arrangements it did not negotiate and had no power to alter.”

Ms Lewis said the Government should abandon the bill, and instead focus on proven ways to improve road safety.

“In 2011, Australia recorded the lowest number of road deaths since 1946. Every road death is a tragedy, however, and there are proven ways the Government could improve road safety further,” Ms Lewis said.

These could include:
A requirement for mandatory safe driving plans for all road freight tasks over 500 kilometres.
The use of GPS enabled on-board tracking devices for line-haul vehicles.
Incentives for businesses to join accreditation schemes like the ATA’s TruckSafe program.
Pursuing the industry’s customers under the existing chain of responsibility laws for safety breaches rather than focusing on the soft targets of the operator and the driver.