The TWU has has condemned the findings of the review of Sydney’s toll road crisis chaired by former ACCC chair Allan Fels, saying the the ongoing increases in the costs of toll roads creates an enormous financial burden for all transport workers, while just about every operating cost for owner-drivers has steadily increased over the years, none has increased more than toll roads.
The TWU says that the toll crisis in Sydney has reached new heights with the release of the independent review, which revealed motorists will pay around $195 billion in tolls between now and 2060 and that the finances of private companies are being prioritised at the cost of drivers.
The TWU NSW said it echoes Professor Fels statements, which made it clear that tolls need a big shake up.
“Major reforms, no holds barred and the New South Wales Government needs to take back control of tolls,” said the Fels review into the toll road system in Sydney.
TWU NSW/QLD state secretary, Richard Olsen said the tolling system has spiralled out of control, placing an unbearable burden on our transport workers and it has become “highway robbery for transport workers.”
“It’s high time for major reforms that prioritise the livelihoods of owner-drivers over corporate profits. The New South Wales Government must step up and take decisive action to rein in the exorbitant toll costs,” Olsen said.
“The current trajectory is unsustainable and unjust and the tolling companies’ exploitation of drivers must end. We demand immediate action to overhaul the system and better the well-being of transport workers,” he added.
Professor Fels’ report comes a month after toll road operator, Transurban, reported a net profit of $230 million in the six months leading up to 31 December.
Coupled with relentless toll increases every quarter, the TWU underscored what it describes as the “tolling companies’ callous disregard for the financial strain and hardships endured by drivers as their gains come as exploitative and to the detriment of the trucking industry and those working in it”.
