Our patrols are currently delivering this service under an expired agreement, which includes antiquated conditions that take each of our patrols out of service to our members for up to 90 minutes every shift. This is valuable paid time that could instead be spent helping to get you back on the road quicker than ever before.

Over the past two years, we have proposed three new enterprise agreements that balanced the evolving needs of our members with the requirements of our patrols workforce in terms of remuneration, roster flexibility, family and meal arrangements and modern industry practices. Disappointingly, all three of these agreements have been rejected by the workforce—the most recent was voted down earlier this week.

“We need to have a workforce that is available to deliver services to our members in a modern environment, with modern conditions and fair pay.” – RAA Managing Director, Ian Stone

So, what are we asking patrols to ‘give up’?

In return for a generous pay increase and $5,000 sign-on bonus, we are asking patrols to:

• Respond to Roadside Assistance calls up to the very end of their shift.
  Currently there’s a 15-minute period before the end of a patrol’s shift during which a patrol can decline to respond to a roadside callout, even though overtime rates apply if the callout sees their shift extended.
• Relinquish being paid to travel to their home to start their 30-minute lunch break.
  Instead, we’re offering ten-minutes’ paid travel time for a patrol to find an appropriate location in proximity to their last callout. To help, we’ve also committed to kitting out their vans with fridges.
• Agree to reducing the notice period of any roster changes from 12 weeks to 4 weeks.
  This doesn’t mean patrols won’t still have long-range visibility of their roster, it simply allows for greater agility in our rostering to meet member demand/seasonal changes. As this year has shown, things can change pretty quickly, and we need to be as agile in how we roster our workforce to meet changes in member demand.
• Accept that RAA needs to draw on GPS tracking data to deliver a more responsive and digitised service to members.
  GPS tracking doesn’t mean we want to spy on our workforce. It is modern technology used in most transport sectors, including taxis and rideshares, to provide an immediate location tracking service for our members. Just as they can follow their UberEats delivery, our members expect to be able to track the location of their roadside rescue patrol.

“I think [patrols] are a very good workforce and are very dedicated to RAA and its members—we just happen to disagree on a fair outcome in these negotiations.” – RAA Managing Director, Ian Stone

What now?

After two years and three rejected agreements, RAA is left with little choice but to pursue an alternative route to ensuring we can deliver a more flexible and responsive service to our 640,000 Road Service members.

RAA will be now be seeking to terminate the existing agreement in favour of the national award. This process is expected to take up to six months, during which time the service will continue to operate under the conditions of the existing agreement.  We remain optimistic about a fair bargaining outcome.