cadstar
McLeod tells Drivers "Ignore safety or find another job"
Postby Max » Tue Oct 05, 2010 5:27 am
McLeod tells Drivers "Ignore safety or find another job": By Max
Still here (!) despite WCU moving heaven and earth to find out who all your CountryStinkers are !!
Thanks to you, loyal Stinkers, and your poker-faces; we are still here and pushing the issues as hard as we can.
(Speaking of which: could one of you write in and tell us about the interrogation?!?)
It's been a busy month, and I realise a lot of you are concerned not only with your safety but in some cases marriages and relationships. All I can say is this: "The truth can hurt - but at the end of the day it's the only way to move forward." You know this is so also.
I appreciate how this is painful territory for a few people, but there is a bigger much more important need for what is happening here: Public Safety.
Imagine how you would feel if a hundred passengers died as a direct result of some shenanigans your lover or husband told you about the night before?
Character is a major factor when it comes to selecting Management in a corporation.
Without unimpeachable character behind the Billions of dollars involved, well, a lot can go wrong, or missing, or worse.
I guess it's getting obvious that I believe: "Character References" have been completely skipped over at the highest levels of RailCorp Management.
Character and particularly the "Character of Management" in CountryLink probably constitutes 80% of the content of this Site. But that has been a necessary thing to write about. I think we are all (50 regulars and growing) in agreement that there are major character flaws within CountryStink which we have only discussed from a "gossipy" level, mostly to verify a lot of the facts.
Over the coming months I want to open up the RESULTS of these Character flaws, and how they affect our very lives, not just our jobs.
Let's talk about SAFETY for a moment. Given we drive millions of tonnes of steel around, Safety is our NUMBER ONE priority, or at least that's what I was TOLD !
At this very moment Countrylink Drivers, almost universally, are disgusted with the GM of Countrylink, (yes, our bestest buddy in the world Greg McLOUD) telling them:
"Not to Self Regulate!".
"Keep to the posted speed of the track or find another job".
"This is the greatest risk to passengers safety I have ever seen" said Frank. (Frank is a senior Driver with Countrylink that has the respect of all the Drivers in the network).
"Self Regulate" is a term used by drivers if the condition of the track is so bad, they can lower the train speed below the posted speed boards along route.
For about a year now the track condition has deteriorated in places throughout New South Wales and Victoria to such an extent that it now poses a serious threat to the PUBLIC SAFETY.
ARTC (Australian Rail Track Corporation) is in charge of all track maintenance, but, "It takes time for a dangerous section of track to be reported and crews to place speed boards to slow trains through the rough sections of track. This is all to do with Safety of passengers and millions of tonnes of freight that transverses the network" Frank said.
In matters of Rail Safety, Drivers are the first and last line of defence.
A fully laden XPT carries more passengers than a Jumbo Jet and the Driver has the responsibility for everyones lives including the crew.
RailCorp prides its self in having Safe and reliable train service. They constantly tell the public how they are totally committed to rail safety; yet Greg McLOUd, in a written memo tells his drivers not to be safe.
I know if I blatantly defied the major item in my Job Description I'd have been given the sack … This is surely a contradiction … but … maybe it's an error … maybe it's a typing mistake ? Or is it ?
Records reveal that at the time Countrylink had the worst "On Time Running" in RailCorp and sadly for all involved, at that time, Greg wanted to impress senior RailCorp executives that he could "execute and deliver" (his words).
Greg put the Safety of passengers at risk, in order to prove he can get results. So one man, to better himself, issued a decree to ignore safety in order to get back on time.
Records also reveal that senior drivers were outraged by this memo and refused to comply. They wrote as much in replies.
As a result some drivers were "victimised", to such an extent that some resigned, went back to City Rail or took stress leave.
In another incident of blatant disregard for passenger safety, Mr X reports on this Website that both Greg McLeod and his trusty side-kick Jane Harris (more on Jane later) ordered a driver "to fuel a leaky locomotive in contravention of all RailCorp safety and environmental policies".
This was done to ensure that one of McLeod's family members was able to travel on the train before it was cancelled.
The Driver refused and was also backed up by other managers. Mr X also reports that most of these managers are on the "HIT LIST".
"This is just another example of why Greg McLeod is unfit to be General Manager of Countrylink" Frank said.
"Drivers are sick and tired of this bull shit. The General Manager must lead by positive example, not by being nothing less than a thug."
"The school yard bully tactics of Greg McLoud are destroying Countrylink and its credibility." said Ken from Sydney.
"Slowly but surely the business is being filled with pimps and arse puppets that will turn their backs on doing the right thing. It's all about the BULL SHIT" said Frank.
(Hey, I just quote them! Max)
"There is no need for this, In the old days we all worked together to achieve a great result",I asked both people "Why does Greg do this?"
Both men replied "Its his way or its the highway. he must feel that he is King."
All I can say is "Thank God that the Drivers who work for Countrylink are the finest and most professional in the business".
Greg, it's time that you step down before some one is Killed.
(And for all the RailCorp exec's reading this: don't you guys fire anyone who breaks the 11th Commandment ? Go on - do it - you know you want to - it'd be a lot cheaper - and nobody's going to complain … or did he get you on video at a 'management meeting' also?)
