Chapter 6: - Rail, Tram and Bus Union of NSW

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*On Wooden Rails Chapter 6 8/30/05 8:50 PM Page 220 On Wooden Rails - Celebrating 150 Years of Work on the NSW Railways The carriage cleaners are mostly permanent-part-time employees, which has its own drawbacks for single parents such as Diane. Currently, they have been advised that the eight-hour roster they are working will be reduced to six hours on the next roster. For a single parent budgeting time and money, the reduction by ten hours per week is both disruptive in terms of routine planning such as child care, and reduces the household income by one quarter. This level of unpredictability and ‘family unfriendly’ work practice can be vital. Diane gives the example of a single father on shift work at her depot. “If it wasn’t for his mum and family being available to care for his daughter at these times he wouldn’t be able to keep the job. Or, if he kept the job without these support networks, he wouldn’t be able to keep his daughter…This is an area that still needs a lot of work before we get close to anything like ‘family friendly’ workplaces. The people making decisions – usually male managers and union officials – mostly don’t have the same direct family or child rearing responsibilities. They are either older people, or their partners have the main responsibility.” These issues are some of the reasons that a single mother with more than enough to occupy her time and energy also finds it important to put in effort as a local union job delegate. She is also concerned that if more isn’t done in this area, many of her colleagues will become disenchanted with the job and the union and simply leave. Mother and Daughter Guard Team Nikki and Tina Edson Nikki has seniority over Tina in the job, yet Tina is Nikki’s mother. In a slight reversal of the story of so many male rail workers who went into the job because fathers, uncles and brothers had gone before them, Tina and Nikki Edson did it the other way round. Nikki joined the railways as a guard, then convinced her mother to make a career change to the railways. Tina was working in welfare and community service jobs, and liked the sound of a ‘mid-life’ career change. Their timing was also impeccable, they both joined prior to the Olympics and worked out of Homebush and around Sydney for that period before relocating to their home base of Newcastle. 2 Interview with Nikki and Tina Edson, May 2005 220 Tina had been in her previous work for 22 years – so it was a huge change, from welfare into the railways. Nikki was earning more as a guard than Tina had ever earned in welfare. Nikki remembers her mother working extra jobs to make ends meet. “The only problem I could see with the job was the hours and shift work – but mum was doing mad hours in youth work anyway and mostly not getting paid for it.” 2 Nikki Edson Tina came to see the merit in her daughter’s argument. ”It was a big change for me, and a complete change in work culture. The biggest thing that struck me was the difference in money, there wasn’t a big difference in hourly rate – but with overtime and shifts, in welfare you didn’t get paid for the extra hours, you could put in a hundred hours in a week and still take home your $30,000. When I started as a guard I was earning between $45,000 and $50,000, and when you work you get paid. I have no regrets, like the flexibility of hours and the work.” They both have similar perspectives and love the job. They can work hours they like and that suit their lifestyles. They agree that the people they work with are good, ‘in most depots drivers and guards get on well.’ They both insist that other factors permitting, they’ll both retire on the railways in Newcastle. Nikki says ‘maybe not as a guard, but definitely as a rail worker.’ Tina will be happy to be the ‘old guard at Newcastle’ in years to come. Nikki would love to be a driver at some stage, but being in Newcastle is more important. “If I could keep Newcastle as my depot I’d love to be a driver. Its great fun, something I’d really like to do, as long as I can be close to home and my family and friends.” Tina has no ambition to be a driver, preferring the mixing and talking with people. “In Newcastle the personal and interpersonal stuff is wonderful – all grades get on well, inspectors, shunters, signals, drivers, guards all get on and are helpful.” Chapter 6 - No Place for a Woman
*On Wooden Rails Chapter 6 8/30/05 8:50 PM Page 221 On Guard Duty Tina and Nikki have worked busy times in Sydney, and dealt with some of the less attractive aspects of the travelling public, but don’t view the work as particularly hard or strenuous work – ‘you can have your bad days, and people can get aggressive and abusive, but mostly its pretty good.” Tina still pinches herself. She describes trips to Scone or Dungog, and sitting on the train taking in the countryside and scenery, and thinking to herself ‘I’m getting paid for this’. They both make light of some of the actual duties, and describe them as a part of a larger social event. “You sign on (talk to everyone first, chat and muck around), go into meal room – gotta have a chat there as well, discuss your first job. Then you’ll be up front with your driver – more chat.” As guards, they open and close doors, ensure that the train is safe and answer passenger questions. In the city they got a lot more annoying questions, and more abusive behaviour from passengers. ‘Its more laid back in Newcastle. People are more casual, a pleasure to go to work – in Sydney you’d cop the flack and abuse for whatever was going wrong.’ They describe being on the railways like belonging to a ‘secret society’. “People that we’d worked with in Sydney still give a wave when you pass them on a trip. It’s the same all over the world, we have guys that go over to America, and railway workers their just welcome them as a part of the culture of the ‘railway society’.” They also identify negative aspects of the job. The main ones being fatalities and assaults – not common at Newcastle, but things that they had experienced in their time in Sydney. Tina and Nikki both describe their worst day on the job as when Tina was involved in a fatality. A passenger had taken a short-cut over an embankment at Casula and was hit by the train. “They sort of try to prepare you for that sort of thing, but it was a long fifteen minutes or so before finding the body. I had to get people off the back of the train so they didn’t witness the body. I then had to look for and I found the body – he was a mess and still alive by a few minutes…. I went back to the train and informed passengers what had happened”. On Wooden Rails - Celebrating 150 Years of Work on the NSW Railways Guards at Central “Everyone was so good. The passengers were so compassionate hugging and comforting. The driver was distressed – I found myself back in a counselling role with the driver – chatting and trying to get him calm”. The inspectors and supervisors were great – they were helpful – they knew what it was like for me. They put me in a cab back to Hornsby, picked up Nikki and went to meet up with my brother. The management was good – ‘take as long as you like – whatever you need in terms of time, counselling’, lots of hugs and concern. People would call and check how you were”. In Newcastle there are about eight women guards now (out of total of about 70 workers). These women are staggered over different time frames and seniority. While some have been on the job for many years, the majority are reasonably new and started around the time of the Olympics. The representation of women in the guards’ ranks has also increased in Sydney and other locations since the Olympics. They both ‘lucked in’ with their transfers to Newcastle, people who were meant to come here ahead of them for different reasons didn’t, so they both got to move back to their home town. ‘People retire here, so it was hard to get a position. Then a lot of the older guys retired – so there is more opportunity now, but we won’t budge so there will be the same problem in future.’ The advantages they both see in working in Newcastle in contrast to Sydney is that its still smaller and closer than in Sydney, still enough of a country town. “There are too many people in Sydney – you can avoid people. Here you are in regular contact – you have to get on. In the city you might not see your roster clerk or inspector unless there is a problem, here you chat with them almost every day. People are more co-operative, more prepared to have a chat”. Chapter 6 - No Place for a Woman 221
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Chapter 6: - Rail, Tram and Bus Union of NSW

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