Plans for bars onboard Brisbane’s river ferries have been given a big thumbs down by the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and Australian Maritime Officers Union (AMOU).
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner recently floated a proposal to allow the CityCat ferries to serve alcohol; click here for more.
MUA Queensland secretary Aaron Johnston says ferry services are there to ferry passengers safely between stops, not to serve beer or wine, and highlighted an absence of detail in the publicly-floated proposal.
“CityCats are public transport, not floating pubs,” he says.
“This proposal is a thought bubble: the Lord Mayor’s own council can’t say how it would work, whether outside contractors or existing crew would run the bars, or who would pay for refitting 10 vessels”.
He also says that no crew member has been consulted about the plans.
“Our members already deal with unruly and intoxicated passengers on late-night services,” he points out.
“Putting alcohol on board will make that worse and add workload and risk for crew whose first job is the safety of everyone on a moving vessel”.
CityCat crew recently paused protected industrial action to join Fair Work Commission proceedings to find an agreement on pay increases and better work conditions.
FERRY PLANS GREETED WITH DISMAY
AMOU Industrial Officer Tracey Ellis says crews are already carrying a greater workload created by cheap (50 cent) fares “often without adequate breaks”.
“Now Brisbane City Council is proposing another significant increase in their duties”.
“Crews do not have the time to serve alcohol, monitor passenger consumption and meet responsible service of alcohol obligations while safely operating the service.”
The unions says the plans also ignore the physical capability limits involved with running licensed bars onboard the vessels.
“The vessels do not have enough power available for the refrigeration required for bar operation,” Ellis says.
“I bet there has been no stability calculations done to see if the CityCats can even carry the extra weight of a bar and drinks, let alone a risk assessment on how they are going to deal with an emergency with less room to move with all the extra equipment and drunk passengers.”
She says more vessels will improve the service by adding more runs “not by creating more workload on already exhausted crews”.
Johnston says the Lord Mayor’s proposal undercuts the party boat scene in Brisbane and that that if council want to improve the service, it should talk to RiverCity Ferries and members to settle their ongoing dispute (over) pay and conditions.
“River cruise operators and riverside venues that have already invested in licensed hospitality shouldn’t have to compete with a ratepayer-subsidised ferry,” he says.
“Commuters, families and people who rely on these ferries to get around deserve a safe, reliable service, not one built around a bar,” he says.
