AN ELEVENTH-hour intervention has delayed the start date of the road safety remuneration order, leaving Border owner-drivers in limbo.
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The Federal Court of Australia granted a stay on the order on Friday evening, hours after the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal announced minimum pay rates would be enforced from Monday onwards.
Holbrook owner-operator Gordon Mackinlay said damage had already been done to self-employed Border drivers, after contractors received news the order would go ahead as planned.
“We were all told we were finishing up, I believed coming down to Melbourne was my last load and then this morning I’ve been told it’s business as usual,” he said.
“There’s quite a few trucks sitting in the yard here today … because we had to say on Friday to customers, this is the rate we’re now going to be forced to pay.
“Many of the customers we quoted the new rate, because they had an option to go with the market rate, they opted for that.
“We lost a lot of work over Friday and we’ve got to pick up the pieces.”
We were both in tears, two grown men, because we were so unsure about the future.
- Holbrook owner-operator Gordon Mackinlay
After weeks of additional hearings and submissions calling for more time to investigate the order’s impacts, the tribunal published its decision on Friday evening not to vary the April 4 start date.
The National Road Transport Association then lodged an application with the Federal Court to impose a stay on the order.
The court granted the stay but has yet to advise of its length or details.
Mr Mackinlay said keeping up with the order, which will impose minimum pay rates for owner-drivers but not industry-wide, was an “emotional roller-coaster”.
“I was on the phone to another owner driver and we were both in tears, two grown men, because we were so unsure about the future,” he said.
“I know this will end up in parliament and my feeling is the act which creates the tribunal will be appealed and the tribunal will be disbanded.
“As a second back up, hopefully the (Brisbane) court sees sense … you should never segregate any industry like they have.”
The federal government has announced it will introduce legislation into parliament from the week starting April 18 to ensure the order cannot commence before January 2017.
The Transport Workers Union lodged an appeal of the stay and is awaiting direction on further hearings.
TWU national secretary Tony Sheldon said the order would stop exploitation of owner-drivers.
“It is time to fix the problems in our industry,” he said.
“This order has the power to hold major retailers at the top of the transport supply chain to account over low-cost contracts.”
