Sydney spared return to train chaos after court throws out appeal

Sydney commuters have been spared the prospect of a return to major disruptions on the city’s rail network for now after a court threw out an appeal by electrical workers against a months-long halt to industrial action.

The Federal Court on Tuesday dismissed the appeal by the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) to quash orders by the Fair Work Commission suspending industrial action by rail workers until July 1. The court will deliver its reasons for the decision later this week.

Sydney train commuters endured repeated disruptions over many months from industrial action before Fair Work last month halted it until July 1.Credit: Rhett Wyman

In welcoming the court’s decision, the NSW government said it provides further certainty to millions of commuters who just want to be able to get to and from work “without being held to ransom”.

“We have shown that we will take all necessary action to protect commuters, and we look forward to the opportunity to continue to engage with rail unions through the Fair Work Commission,” it said in a statement.

Thousands of rail workers represented by the ETU and the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) have taken various forms of industrial action since last September during a protracted pay dispute with the Minns government. The industrial action had repeatedly crippled the passenger rail network before Fair Work ordered a halt to it last month.

ETU state secretary Allen Hicks said his members were disappointed with the Federal Court’s decision, and the union would consider its legal options.

“This decision tears away the right of workers to withdraw their labour in pursuit of a better deal,” he said.

While the latest decision represents a win for the government, the RTBU and several other unions have applied to Fair Work to cut short the suspension of industrial action.

On Friday, Fair Work deferred any hearing of the RTBU application until the Federal Court had determined the ETU case. The government has until Friday to file submissions to Fair Work.

The rail unions argue in the application to Fair Work to cut short the suspension that it has not realised the commission’s stated intention of helping to resolve the differences. They claim the two sides are “further apart than they were before” in the pay dispute.

The decision last month to suspend industrial action until July was less than the six months the government had asked for, and did not solve the central problem of the unions’ demand for a $4500 bonus payment.

The “sign-on” bonus derailed what seemed to be an eleventh-hour breakthrough in negotiations between the government and unions last month.

RTBU state secretary Toby Warnes said on Friday that, if they were successful in their latest application to Fair Work, the unions would have to provide the rail operators 10 days’ notice of industrial action and would give undertakings to let the commission know first.

“We’re probably talking no sooner than a month, six weeks … of any action [if the unions are successful in convincing Fair Work to vary its orders],” he said.

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