Sydney rail workers push for annual pay rise of 8%

Thousands of NSW rail workers are pushing for an annual 8 per cent pay rise over four years and a cut in the working week to 35 hours, in a major test of the Minns Labor government.

Less than 18 months after the end of an industrial dispute that crippled Sydney’s rail network, the state’s combined rail unions handed a log of claims detailing the pay demands to Sydney Trains and NSW Trains management on Monday afternoon, five days after delegates endorsed it.

Rail workers are seeking an annual 8 per cent pay rise over four years.Credit: Ben Symons

The six rail unions are seeking an annual pay increase for their members of 8 per cent or the rate of inflation, whichever is greater, over four years, twice the length of the existing agreement. They are also proposing a 35-hour workweek, down from 38 hours, without a cut in pay.

In addition, the unions are pushing for an extra week of annual leave, taking it to five weeks for non-shift staff and six weeks for shift workers. They want overtime paid at double, as well as an extra 1 per cent superannuation payment.

Amid cost-of-living pressures due to an inflation spike over the past two years, union officials say pay will be the key issue in negotiations.

The Rail Tram and Bus Union said in a statement that real wages for its members had fallen significantly since the last enterprise agreement due to inflation. “The former Liberal government’s wage cap also resulted in a suppression of wages over the past 12 years,” it said.

Coalition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said a pay rise of the magnitude sought by unions would be a “sweetheart deal” for them but terrible for taxpayers.

“Every extra dollar that goes into union pay deals just means higher Opal fares, fees and registrations for commuters and less available investment for roads, rail and maintenance services,” she said.

The Minns government axed its predecessors’ controversial wages cap last September, ending a decade-long ceiling on pay rises for public sector workers under the Coalition and fulfilling an election promise.

Transport for NSW said the rail agencies would respond to the unions’ log of claims during bargaining, adding the length of the new enterprise agreement was a matter for negotiations.

“The rail agencies look forward to productive discussions with the combined rail unions during this round of bargaining,” it said.

The log of claims follows surveys of union members and comes ahead of an existing two-year enterprise agreement expiring in May. The existing deal covers about 14,000 state rail workers.

The Rail Tram and Bus Union has about 10,000 members at Sydney Trains and NSW Trains. It has the overwhelming majority of rail workers of the six unions which have filed the log of claims, including the Electrical Trades and Australian Manufacturing Workers unions.

Under the existing two-year agreement approved by the industrial umpire in early 2023, rail workers received a 2.53 per cent pay rise in the first year and 3.03 per cent in the second, as well as one off-payment of $4500.

That agreement ended a dispute between rail unions and the Perrottet government which severely disrupted Sydney’s rail network for extended periods in 2022.

A new fleet of intercity trains was at the centre of the last dispute, which was settled in late 2022 when the Perrottet government agreed to union demands to modify the trains to allow guards to monitor passengers getting on and off at stations.

The modifications to cameras, screens and emergency doors on the 62 trains will cost $235 million, taking the total bill for the new fleet to almost $2.8 billion.

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