Work to fix some of Canberra's most dangerous potholes has stalled amid a dispute over a contract for labour-hire traffic controllers, which a union says could be resolved by guaranteeing higher wages for workers.
Street sweeping on high-speed roads, line marking and pavement assessments have all been put on hold by the territory government, documents tendered in the Federal Court show.
Transport Canberra and City Services Directorate deputy director-general Jim Corrigan said in an affidavit the delay to a new traffic management contract had resulted in flow-on effects to the ACT's road maintenance program between May and September.
"By reallocating internal Roads ACT resources ... it meant that the core business of the [road maintenance] team was not being undertaken which included street sweeping, roads above 70km/hr," the affidavit said.
"Street sweeping is required to move debris off roads with cycle lanes to prevent danger to cyclists when manoeuvering into traffic to avoid obstacles."
Mr Corrigan also said pothole rectification on roads with speed limits at 80kmh or above could not be completed.
"Roads ACT staff are able to undertake the pothole rectification works in quieter, low-risk streets using internal resourcing (including equipment) but the larger road maintenance works require more crew members, more customised equipment in order to complete the works safely and efficiently with minimum disruptions to road users."
Zach Smith, the CFMEU ACT branch secretary, said it was entirely foreseeable a person could be killed on an unsafe Canberra road that could and should have been repaired.
"There are currently essential road safety works that aren't being carried out, because the ACT government has decided it wants to outsource and undercut instead of hiring traffic controllers directly," Mr Smith said in a statement.
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union ACT branch has launched legal action against the ACT government in the Federal Court, and on Tuesday was seeking an injunction against the traffic management contract.
The contract would, the union said, mean traffic controllers would be paid less than if they were directly employed by the government, which contravenes an enterprise agreement.
Eighteen general services officers are also suing the ACT government over nearly 760 breaches of their workplace agreement, the union said. The maximum penalties would total more than $47 million, excluding back pay, the union said.
The alleged breaches relate to occasions where the workers claim the government has failed to ensure they were paid the same as public sector employees.
Daniel Hodges, one of the workers, describes in an affidavit his concern at traffic control work being subcontracted to people who would allegedly be paid less.
"I am concerned for myself and my TCCS colleagues who will lose the on call allowance and call out payments for traffic control work due to the subcontracting of the traffic control work, and the traffic control roster at TCCS being stopped as result of that. I know that it [is] really going to impact my family's finances," Mr Hodges, 36, said.
Mr Smith said: "I suspect it is unelected bean counters who are pushing for this penny pinching at the expense of safety and secure jobs. Andrew Barr and Chris Steel need to pull these arrogant bureaucrats into line and tell them traffic controllers need to start work today, and they need to be paid fairly."
Mr Smith said traffic controllers' jobs were essential and they deserved to be paid a decent living wage.
"Trying to replace them with cheap contractors and holding up essential road works Canberra needs is unconscionable," he said.
"All members of the ACT government should be ashamed of this heartless attempt to undercut its own pay and conditions."
Mr Corrigan's affidavit said the ACT lacked the internal capability to provide the same services as external traffic management contractors, and Roads ACT staff were "not proficient in high-speed complex environments such as major arterial roads which require technical expertise".
"Traffic control is also not a role they perform regularly and therefore, whilst some Roads ACT employees have the certification to undertake traffic control work, they do not have the hours of experience or level of proficiency required to undertake the more complex works," Mr Corrigan said.
A Transport Canberra and City Services spokesman said the matter was before the courts so they could not comment in detail but that public safety on the road network continued to be a high priority.
"Activities like pothole repair, street sweeping, line marking and replacing signage are being undertaken," the spokesman said.
"More complex works like asphalt patching was put on hold until the temporary traffic management contractor was appointed. This patching is what provides more longer-term improvements and reduces road deterioration."
