Re: NSW Railway Fat Cats

["Linux Newbie" <linuxnewbie@optusnet.com.au>]

So what????
I certainly don't know about the RAC or SRA bonus issue but from what I can
ascertain RSA has come along way (winning work interstate, overseas and
outside the rail industry so they (particulatly the CEO) probably deserve a
bonus

"David E. Lindstrom" <D_Lindstrom@Bigpond.com> wrote in message
onod5.15121$c5.40547@newsfeeds.bigpond.com">news:onod5.15121$c5.40547@newsfeeds.bigpond.com...
Today's SMH reports:
Railway fat cats deflated
By ROBERT WAINWRIGHT, Transport Writer

http://www.smh.com.au/news/0007/20/pageone/pageone1.html#top
The new head of NSW railways, Mr Ron Christie, will crack down on
performance bonuses paid to rail executives after revelations that more than
$2.3 million - including one payment of $75,000 - has been paid over the
past four years.
The payments were made to senior executives at the State Rail Authority,
Rail Access Corporation and Rail Services Australia.
"On-time running has deteriorated significantly during the last financial
year," Mr Christie said last night. "I have directed the boards of RAC and
RSA that any bonuses paid for 1999-2000 will be determined in the light of
this decline in performance."
The bonuses paid to staff of all three authorities in 1998-99 were to reward
excellence but critics, including rail unions, argue that the system was run
into the ground in those years, with maintenance schedules changed
drastically.
Since then, on-time running has plunged to embarrassing levels and there has
been a spate of equipment failures and accidents, including the Glenbrook
crash in which seven people died.
The Herald has obtained these details of bonuses:
Between 1996-97 and 1998-99, $1,269,839 was paid to RAC staff. In 1998-99
alone, 157 RAC staff received $617,000 - an average of $4,000. This included
$75,000 to its former chief executive, Ms Judi Stack.
Between 1997-98 and 1999-2000, $742,138 was paid to RSA staff in bonuses -
including $18,000 to its chief executive, Mr Terry Ogg, who earns $265,000 a
year. Six managers who each earn more than $200,000 a year were among the
others eligible for bonuses.
In 1998 and 1999, $177,500 was paid to SRA staff, including $20,000 to its
chief executive, Mr Simon Lane, who earns $305,000. The SRA's senior staff
include at least six managers whose salaries range around $200,000.
Mr Christie said he was not targeting bonuses paid to some staff under
enterprise bargaining agreements but higher payments made to senior
executives.
The veto over bonus payments is the first aggressive step to co-ordinate the
activities of the three rail bureaucracies since Mr Christie was appointed
Co-ordinator-General of Rail.
"The boards will continue to provide advice in overseeing the operations of
each agency, including the approval of performance bonuses," Mr Christie
said. "However, in future I will be reviewing all approved bonuses to ensure
that each is paid in line with performance."
The Opposition spokesman on transport, Mr Barry O'Farrell, described the
bonuses as outrageous. "Clearly the problems we are experiencing have not
cropped up overnight. Ron Christie has admitted as much, and despite that
the boards have signed off on bonuses to under-performing rail chiefs and
executives."
The RAC owns and maintains equipment such as tracks and signals, and the RSA
manages the workforce that maintains the equipment. The SRA runs the
CityRail service.
Despite recent improvements, on-time running remains below the 92 per cent
target.