Around 120 workers gathered by the Wellington Street bus station where they voted in favour of carrying out a 12 hour work ban on issuing fines on Friday. Then when the workers found out that MSS Security and Perth Transit Authority had said it will not pay them anything if they carry out the work bans, they decided they will not come in to work at all between 2pm on Friday and 2am on Saturday. They will instead attend stop work meetings.

The workers wanted to do this work ban, rather than a full stoppage on the busiest and most fraught period of the week, because they wanted to maintain the security of those travelling at this potentially dangerous time.
Their very presence on the trains makes passengers feel safer, particularly on a night when Revenue Protection Officers can virtually guarantee they will experience some kind of aggression or violent behaviour from unruly passengers.
Carolyn Smith, assistant secretary of the LHMU said: “This is a massive over reaction by MSS and PTA and it will hurt not only the workers but the general public of WA.
 “The safety of passengers on trains will be severely jeopardised tomorrow night because of their actions.
“I always feel safer travelling on the trains if I see one of the RPO’s blue shirts on one of the carriages. I think the trains could become a very dangerous place to be on Friday night if they are callously prevented from doing their jobs.”
The latest negotiations meeting with MSS saw the security firm refuse to move on its current pay offer of Fair Work Australia’s minimum wage increase of $26 per week, which the workers would get anyway, plus only 1.4% on top of that.
For the following two years they have offered the workers 3%. But if the minimum wage rises again next year at the same rate as this year, MSS’s offer will see the workers go backwards because they are not paid the correct penalty rates for working in the evenings, at weekends and on public holidays.
The only improvement in MSS’s latest offer to the revenue protection officers, who have not had a pay rise in two years, comes in some minor changes to conditions.
The officers are looking for 12% over two years, with the correct penalty rates, 18 months back pay and specific training to help them deal with aggressive customers.
Revenue Protection Officers should keep checking the LHMU WA branch website for any further news on potential industrial action.