Transport & Travel

Urban transport workers meet to discuss common problems

Violence at work, multi-national companies and threats of privatisation of government-provided services were the key themes of a recent international meeting of unions with members employed in urban transport around the world.

The meeting was convened by the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) to which the ASU is affiliated. Branches of the ASU with members in urban transport supported participation as part of an integrated plan to ensure that the ASU's members remain fully aware of and prepared to deal with key issues facing urban transport workers, including those employed on trains, buses, trams and ferries.

The Union was represented at the meeting by National Industrial Officer Keith Harvey, who said that the key themes of the conference were important to workers in Australia and the rest of the world. "The similarity of experiences and concerns was remarkable", he said, "given that unions representing workers from 33 different countries on five continents were involved".

Once, urban transport was the sole preserve of Government owned authorities. Now Connex (which runs Melbourne's train network) and other multi-national operators run urban transport systems around the world. Unions in different countries face the same employer. The ITF has set up a network to exchange information between unions on the tactics of the multi-national employers.

Many governments are considering privatisation or contracting out of both urban and regional passenger transport systems, threatening wages and working conditions for employees as well as the quality of service provision and safety for customers.

The ITF meeting was addressed by an expert from the Public Services International (PSI) who advised the group on how to campaign successfully to keep urban transport in public hands. In addition, the meeting heard from experts as well as participants on strategies for dealing with violence at work, which is unfortunately a daily experience for workers in mass transit systems around the world.