NSW road workers latest sector to strike as industrial unrest continues

Another set of workers are set to strike in NSW as widespread industrial unrest continues over pay and working conditions.

Road workers will strike on Thursday to protest the NSW government’s pay offer as industrial unrest continues in the state.

The Australian Workers’ Union said road workers, construction crews and other Transport for NSW labourers would down tools for 24 hours in the first such action in decades.

The announcement follows industrial action from other public workers after the government offered a pay rise that was lower than inflation.

The 3 per cent pay increase – including half a per cent increase to superannuation – means public sector workers will take an effective pay cut because inflation sits at 5 per cent.

Road workers will strike on Thursday. Picture: AAP Image/Dylan Coker

“These men and women worked tirelessly to keep our state moving during recent bushfires and flood catastrophes,” AWU NSW branch organiser Cameron Wright said.

“During the pandemic they put on their work gear and went out into an uncertain world while the rest of us were locked down.

“And now Dom Perrottet wants to tell them all to cop a pay cut. It’s just not going to fly.”

Teachers, nurses and midwives, and rail workers have also taken industrial action recently, in part to protest the government’s pay offer.

The government will face off with the Rail, Tram and Bus Union in the Fair Work Commission on Thursday in a bid to stop continued industrial action from the union.

It has said it will refuse to staff foreign-made trains on Friday after a long-running dispute over perceived safety issues with a new train fleet that was made in Korea.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet appreciated the union putting more trains on the tracks. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Trains were running at 50 per cent capacity on Wednesday, as bad weather and a limited action from the union combined to slow services.

“I tell you what I’m happy about firstly, and that is that the union saw fit to put more trains on the tracks,“ NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said.

“That was pleasing to not inconvenience people of our great state.”

The AWU said transport construction workers would resume work again at 6am on Friday.

Union gatherings at major depots, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge depot, were planned for 9am on Thursday.

The NSW government said last month its offer of an annual pay increase of 3 per cent, over two years, was the most generous in the country.

Opposition Leader Chris Minns said it was obvious people in the state were “over” the industrial dispute involving the foreign-made trains.

“No one wants industrial action or strikes. We made it clear last week that we didn’t want industrial action to go ahead this week,” he said.

He urged the government to “get locked in a room” with the rail union to work out the issue.

Originally published as NSW road workers latest sector to strike as industrial unrest continues