‘Extremely close’: Rail unions hand counter-offer on pay to transport chiefs

Rail unions claim they are “extremely close” to reaching a wage deal with the NSW Labor government after they handed a counter-offer to bureaucrats on Monday afternoon during a closed hearing before the workplace umpire into the protracted dispute.

Union officials met senior representatives from Transport for NSW and Sydney Trains at a conciliation hearing before the Fair Work Commission to present in writing their counter-offer, details of which are yet to be revealed.

Rail Tram and Bus Union state secretary Toby Warnes, right, arrives at the closed hearing on Monday.Credit: Louie Douvis

Emerging after more than five hours, Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) state secretary Toby Warnes said the two sides were “extremely close on wages”, and would return for further talks on Tuesday.

“We’re getting very close. They’re doing some work overnight with Treasury,” he said.

“They’ve told us they’re coming back with a counter-counter-offer, but it’s good that it shows there’s at least some negotiation going on [rather] than what we’ve seen in the last couple of months.”

Warnes declined to reveal the terms of the unions’ counter-offer, other than to say they were seeking a three-year deal. While the two sides were close on pay, he said some differences remain on conditions and clauses.

Earlier, Warnes said discussions could run until as late as Wednesday morning, when a two-day hearing was due to start on the government’s case to have the unions’ industrial action terminated or suspended on economic harm and community welfare grounds.

Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland and Transport for NSW secretary Josh Murray walk into the hearing on Monday to hear the unions present a counter-offer.Credit: Louie Douvis

Transport for NSW secretary Josh Murray declined to comment when he left the hearing.

When he arrived, Murray said he and other officials, including Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland, had agreed to meet and listen to the unions.

“The unions have asked for this meeting. We’re very happy to have this discussion and hear what they’ve put down on paper,” Murray said.

“This is the No.1 priority for the travelling public at the moment to get this sorted so we’ll put the time aside.”

The government has offered rail workers a 14 per cent pay rise over four years, which includes a 1 per cent rise from savings from merging the state’s two passenger rail operators. The RTBU and five other unions’ opening claim last year was for a 32 per cent pay rise over four years.

On Friday, Transport Minister Jo Haylen said the government would consider a counter-offer if it was put in writing, but emphasised that it was pursuing its Section 424 application under the Fair Work Act.

Haylen has said the “threshold is high” to convince Fair Work to intervene, but the government was preparing evidence to bolster its case of the “incalculable” hit to the economy and community harm. She has also said the 14 per cent rise over four years was a “final pay offer”.

At a hastily convened Fair Work hearing on Thursday, the state’s rail unions were ordered to stop their protected industrial action on an interim basis until a final decision is made at a full hearing this week.

Work bans caused thousands of train services to be cancelled or delayed across the rail network on Wednesday and Thursday.

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