MEDIA RELEASE: Central Coast community transport drivers deserve a fair go

3 October 2024

Following the recent and sudden collapse of Community Transport Central Coast Limited (CTCC), 70 workers have had their jobs disrupted with no guarantee of reinstatement by the new operator.

This afternoon, Central Coast based Greens MLC Abigail Boyd has written to the Minister for the Central Coast, the Minister for Transport and the Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, calling on them to require the new service operator, Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Community Transport, to provide preference of employment to all ex-CTCC workers.

Quotes attributable to Abigail Boyd, Greens NSW MP and spokesperson for the Central Coast:

“These drivers deserve a better deal than the one that has apparently been negotiated by the old and new operators of this vital community service. The NSW Labor government needs to step in to ensure they are given a fair go.

“Through no fault of their own, these workers find themselves without a job at a time of acute economic difficulty. And to make matters worse, they are now facing a situation where they could see their old jobs, that they had been performing diligently and conscientiously up until their employer abruptly went into voluntary liquidation, filled with a new group of workers.

“I hold grave concerns that some of these workers may have been unfairly targeted or discriminated against on the basis of their union affiliation and activity. These allegations must be addressed urgently with government intervention to ensure all workers are treated fairly and on merit.

“I’ve heard from the community that uses this service that they see no justification for the replacement of these drivers. They are as much an integral part of the community transport service they are providing as the vehicles themselves, equipped with local knowledge and relationships with the oftentimes vulnerable members of our community that they are assisting day in and day out.

“The NSW Government needs to urgently step up and guarantee these workers that they will be protected, that their re-employment is guaranteed and they can go back to doing their jobs. It’s what our community expects.”

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MEDIA RELEASE: Central Coast community transport drivers deserve a fair go

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

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