RailCorp to cut staff at South Coast stations

By Brett Cox
Updated November 5 2012 - 7:25pm, first published April 7 2009 - 11:20am

South Coast railway stations will be left with fewer staff, and some none at all, under proposed cuts put forward by RailCorp.The State Government's railway arm has sent memos to each station across the network outlining the proposed cuts to staff hours and numbers.It says it will consult with each station in coming months over the changes, believed to be starting with the South Coast line in May.The Mercury has been told by sources the move would leave Dunmore, Bombo and Gerringong with no staff at all and almost all other South Coast line stations with reduced staff.For example, Albion Park, which is staffed from 5.30am to 9.30pm every day, would only be staffed for four hours on weekday mornings and four hours some afternoons under the plan.Wollongong Railway Station would be manned by only one person on weekends and fewer staff than at present during the week and at nights.A spokeswoman said RailCorp was working with unions and station staff on a reform process agreed upon as part of a new enterprise agreement."There will be no loss of employment as a result of the station staff reviews, though some positions will change," she said.But station staff say they have been told that although they will be offered new positions, there are no guarantees on hours or "whether the position will be anywhere near the location where we are now"."If you're paying a mortgage, you can't survive having your working hours cut from full-time to four hours a day," one said. "It sounds like a way they can avoid paying redundancies."The spokeswoman said the moves would improve "customer service and operating efficiency".The Rail Tram and Bus Union said the proposal meant some stations within the network would not be staffed for much of the day. "Most stations will have staff members cut or changed to part-time, or have their hours changed," spokesman Phillip Kessey said. He said many stations would only have staff during the morning and afternoon peaks."It ignores those travellers who are tourists, pensioners, school-age children."

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