Tip Top driver John Kiernan says he suffers debilitating panic attacks. Photo / Supplied
Tip Top driver John Kiernan says he suffers debilitating panic attacks. Photo / Supplied
Tip Top bread delivery drivers in NSW have warned that pay cuts are leading to severe fatigue and that it is only a matter of time before a tragedy happens.
An investigation by ABC's 7.30 has revealed the staggering workload drivers are forced to take on.
One Tip Top driver, Graeme Wong, told the programme he hit "rock bottom" after working 15 weeks in a row with just two days off.
"I was sitting in the carpark, in the truck, at 3 o'clock in the morning at Hungry Jacks making a delivery, just sitting there contemplating what I was even doing," he said.
Wong told the ABC his business delivering Tip Top bread was going backwards and he was unable to afford a relief driver to help cover the run.
"In seven years the money went down by A$1000 ($1109) a week but the cost, everything goes up - the price of tyres, servicing, fuel, wages, insurance, everything goes up," Wong told 7.30.
"It got to the stage where I had nothing left so I just had to give my notice and had to sell the truck."
Wong's fellow Tip Tip driver Mark Goldfinch told the ABC his business was failing but that Tip Top could not explain why.
"Go back about 10 years, I was delivering about 10,000 to 11,000 units a week on $3400. Now I'm close to 18, 19, 20,000 for an average pay of $2900," he said.
NSW Labor MP Greg Warren is calling for change. Photo / News Corp Australia
Paul Clapson, who has been a Tip Top owner-driver for almost a decade, said the impact on the drivers was not just financial.
"There's also the major safety issue. Because we aren't getting paid what we probably should be, your maintenance goes on your truck, you become a problem out on the road.
"There are a lot of contractors who are scared to speak out," he told 7.30.
"We have trucks going out there that cannot be roadworthy.
"It seems to be ignored by Tip Top. The whole chain of responsibility seems to be put on us."
In the 1950s when bread, milk and cream delivery was considered an essential community service, legislation was created to exclude them from accessing the NSW Industrial Relations Commission.
Alex Grayson, industrial relations principal at law firm Maurice Blackburn, told the ABC the drivers are "sit in a regulatory black hole".
"They are really only able to negotiate what they can negotiate," he said. "They're essentially unregulated.
NSW Labor MP Greg Warren is calling on the State Government to change the Industrial Relations Act to allow bread truck drivers to access the Industrial Relations Commission.
"Owner-drivers and contractors delivering bread deserve the same rights and conditions as drivers delivering any other kind of product," he told 7.30.
"It goes right to the core of a fair day's work for a fair day's pay.
"This isn't a complex amendment that's required," he said.
Tip Top drivers were excluded from accessing the NSW Industrial Relations Commission in the 1950s. Photo / News Corp Australia
Owner-driver John Kiernan took on an additional delivery run for Tip Top this year.
He said the run had not reached the estimated earnings figures Tip Top provided to him.
If you are worried about your or someone else's mental health, the best place to get help is your GP or local mental health provider. However, if you or someone else is in danger or endangering others, call 111.
If you need to talk to someone, the following free helplines operate 24/7:
DEPRESSION HELPLINE: 0800 111 757 LIFELINE: 0800 543 354 NEED TO TALK? Call or text 1737 SAMARITANS: 0800 726 666 YOUTHLINE: 0800 376 633 or text 234
