Against: NatRoad
Australians should brace themselves for higher prices whilst owner-operator truckers are at risk of losing their livelihood ,if a new Order takes effect next month – with The National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) calling on the Federal Government to delay the legislation.
From April 4, minimum contract rates for some of Australia’s trucking contractors, primarily family-run businesses, are due to increase by around 20-30 per cent under the Road Safety Remuneration Contractor Driver Minimum Payments Order 2016, developed by Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal.
NatRoad chief executive officer Warren Clark said the tribunal was created under the previous Labor Government at the instigation of the Transport Workers Union and creates an unworkable system of minimum payments and an unfair playing field for around 70 per cent of the freight industry.
“The Order forces a union-based approach onto smaller companies that don’t have the size to compete with bigger, unionised operators. These are family-owned businesses that often mortgage the family home to spend $300-$400k on their trucks.
“If implemented in its current form, it will force many owner drivers off the road – with many already told by employers that come April their mandatory rates are uncompetitive and work will not be available.
“Once small operators are forced out of the industry, the larger companies will exist without competition, giving them market power and the possibility of increased freight charges.
Freight consignors will still be able to use larger fleet operators at negotiated market rates, there by placing owner drivers in an uncompetitive no win situation.
Consumers are also set to feel the strain, with NatRoad warning them to brace for higher costs of staples such as bread, milk and fuel to compensate for higher rates.
“The Federal Government makes great play of its backing for small business,” Mr Clark said. “These owner-operators are small businesses that are being forced into a type of compulsory unionism by this Order, which I’m sure wouldn’t be tolerated in any other sector.”
NatRoad is calling on the Federal Government to put a stop to the Order until a thorough review of the consequences takes place.
For: TWU
The Transport Workers’ Union is appealing to the Federal Government to back a ruling by the road safety watchdog after nine people were killed in truck crashes in just one week.
The ruling, which comes into effect on 4 April, will ensure that drivers are not put under pressure to meet unrealistic deadlines and forced to speed, drive long hours and skip maintenance on their trucks.
“My condolences goes out to the families and friends torn apart after the deaths of these nine loved ones. I am calling on the Government to take road safety seriously and back this ruling,” said TWU national secretary Tony Sheldon.
Truck drivers and the TWU will visit Canberra next week to press the case for a focus on truck deaths. The union is demanding that wealthy retailers follow the binding law on pay rates and ensure that their transport contracts reflect the new rates. “These rates are minimum safe rates, they will ensure drivers get paid for all the work they do. Unfortunately what we are seeing is a lot of scare-mongering about the rates and this is coming right from the big retailers at the top. But lives should not be put before profits,” Sheldon added.
The deaths this past week include:
NSW, 7 Mar 2016: A man died following a head-on crash between his van and a truck on the Pacific Highway at Cooperabung.
SA, 5 Mar 2016: A 47-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman, who were both truck drivers, were killed when their truck hit a guardrail and burst into flames on the Eyre Highway near Port Augusta.
VIC, 5 Mar 2016: A truck driver was killed when his truck hit a tree on the Western Freeway in Darley.
WA, 4 Mar 2016: Two 25-year-old men died when their motorcycle crashed with a truck on McCombe Road in Halifax.
VIC, 3 Mar 2016: Two people, a female sedan driver and a male truck driver, died when their vehicles collided head-on on Latrobe Road in Maryvale.
VIC, 1 Mar 2016: A female truck driver died after being pinned under her truck that rolled at a worksite on the South Gippsland Highway in Nyora.
Last December the road safety watchdog handed down the ground-breaking ruling on safe rates. The Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal said long-distance drivers and those working in retail must be paid minimum rates which also cover time spent waiting and queuing at depots and distribution centres. The ruling also said wealthy retailers which use transport operators must be held to account for pressures on drivers.
The TWU is also calling for a national auditing, education and industrial rights fund paid into by all employers along the transport supply chain. The fund would ensure companies are meeting safety obligations and that those at the top of supply chains are being held to account for work carried out for them. The fund would also educate employers on their obligations while training drivers on safety and their rights at work.
“This fund is important in holding companies to account over safety. At the moment it is the rest of the community which is bearing the brunt of the loss of loved ones and the economic cost of truck crashes,” he said.
