3/7/09 NSW: Pay overweight bus drivers to exercise, says union

OVERWEIGHT bus drivers are having half their Weight Watchers bill paid by the State Government and the union now wants them to be paid to exercise as well. A union proposal to give obese drivers paid personal training time on their shifts will be put to the State Transit Authority during enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations. The Daily Telegraph can also reveal the Government provides a 50 per cent subsidy to Weight Watchers programs for its 4500 employees and pays for specialist programs for drivers with eating disorders. The Government has also told the operators of a new cafeteria at the Leichhardt depot to provide more healthy options - even though the drivers themselves overwhelmingly want hot chips, hamburgers, pies and sausage rolls. Port Botany union delegate Steve Giardullo said he wanted drivers to be given up to an hour's exercise time per shift - a move which if applied across the board could cost taxpayers more than $20 million. Already drivers take part in an hour-long "boot camp" twice a week - running, doing push-ups, sit-ups, star jumps and other exercises. Mr Giardullo said he would push for "some sort of training program where drivers are encouraged and rostered to do training" and said he expected the RTBU leadership to back it. "I think anything that's going to make drivers fitter and more capable of doing their job is going to be looked at very favourably," he said. An STA spokesman said the authority would consider the Rail Tram and Bus Union proposal once it was formally put to them. RTBU bus secretary Raul Baonza said the STA had paid for weight loss or fitness programs for "a couple of people" from each of its 13 depots. A survey of the 300 drivers at the Leichhardt depot said their favourite hot dishes included sausage rolls, pies, hot chips and hamburgers. Source: Daily Telegraph