NSW: CityRail guards beg for batons as five fired for protests
By Kylie Walker, Industrial Reporter
SYDNEY, Feb 12 AAP - Five CityRail guards have been sacked for staging a strike todemand they be allowed to carry batons on trains, their union said today.
The Chubb Security-employed guards lost their jobs on Monday after they protested ata decision late last year that only CityRail's new transit officers be allowed to carrybatons and handcuffs, the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers (LHMU) said.
"Our members are committed to delivering safe rail services but they believe theirown personal safety is threatened every time they go to work," said LHMU NSW assistantsecretary Mark Boyd.
"Since the Chubb guards have lost the batons, a number of them have been bashed atrailway stations."
Chubb said the guards were fired after a third round of "unlawful industrial action",in defiance of two warnings that such action would result in the loss of their jobs.
"Due to the lack of notice of the unlawful industrial action the guards put at riskthe general public as trains went unguarded," a Chubb spokeswoman said.
The sacked Newcastle-based guards would initiate action against the company in an attemptto be reinstated and given the chance to carry batons, the union said.
Since the decision was made to take the batons away from licensed guards, Mr Boyd saida number of them had been bashed while waiting on platforms to board trains.
The union's concerns coincided with the release today of the NSW Auditor-General'sreport into CityRail passenger safety, which indicated the beefing up of security measuressince 1998 had delivered mixed results.
It said the introduction of security guards had led to a fall in serious and violentcrimes, but it was too early to judge the impact of more recent initiatives.
While the union hailed the decrease in violent crime against commuters, Mr Boyd saidthe concern now centred on violence against guards.
"It's well and good to have the guards in place for the security of the commuters butat the same time I think the safety of the guards is justified," he said.
AAP kbw/nf/jnb/ts
KEYWORD: RAIL GUARDS
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