Electrical Trades Union fail to block vote on train deal that ended months of Sydney strikes

The future of an agreement that could end months of industrial action that paralysed a major city’s rail network hangs in the balance, with a key vote given the go-ahead.

A vote on a new enterprise agreement for tens of thousands of rail workers that could end months of industrial action will go ahead after an 11th hour bid by the Electrical Trades Union to stop it.

The ETU broke with the Combined Rail Unions last month after the CRU, led by the Rail, Tram, and Bus Union, reached an in-principle agreement with the state government over Sydney and NSW Trains staff.

A Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission ordered that the vote go ahead shortly after 5pm on Friday afternoon, following hours of hearings that day, having knocked back an application by the ETU.

Lawyers representing the ETU claimed during an hours-long hearing that neither Sydney and NSW Trains nor the RTBU had engaged in legally mandated good-faith bargaining during the final days of negotiations.

The union, which represents electricians, claims it was excluded from a meeting in late May between the CRU and the state government, which later held three days of meetings with the ETU in early June.

The meetings centred on two differences between the ETU and the RTBU that led to the ETU objecting to the pay deal, chiefly the restructuring of competency scales for trade-related staff, known as uplifting.

The ETU fought to stop a vote on a new enterprise agreement for rail workers, but their argument was rejected by the Fair Work Commission. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

The uplift was granted to “non-trade” employees under the proposed deal, with the ETU seeking to have the same measure applied to electricians – something it claims is a longstanding desire of the ETU.

The rail agencies and the RTBU object to the measure, arguing it was put forward after negotiations had ended, with Sydney Trains executive Fatima Abbas stating it would impact about 350 workers.

The commission was told it wouldn’t matter if the uplift cost “$1m or $100m”, the rail agencies were not seeking to “increase the package and consider it the final offer”, their lawyer told the court on Friday.

“There are 13,500 employees that will be covered by this agreement. The majority of bargaining representatives support and agree to the final package. If the applicant refuses, the package will not change,” he said.

RTBU lawyer Leo Saunders told the commission that the union claimed the ETU had “excluded themselves” from meetings, and it hadn’t put the uplift as a “formal claim” previously.

The looming vote comes after months of negotiations and brinkmanship between the CRU and the RTBU and the state government, including rounds of industrial action and court orders.

Following a cooling-off period mandated by the commission earlier this year, a breakthrough in talks came after a fallen wire at Strathfield sparked days of chaos across Sydney’s rail network in May.

Transport Minister John Graham said the state government “welcomes” the Commission’s decision.

“This is another critical step to ending disruption for a million rail commuters a day,” he said.

“It’s time to let the workforce decide. The Government’s view is that this is a good deal for rail workers.

“Our aim is to get this agreement finalised so the entire focus of Sydney Trains and TrainLink can return to improving reliability and maintenance across the network and allowing passengers to have full confidence the rail system is working for them again.”

The vote is yet to be scheduled.

Originally published as Electrical Trades Union fail to block vote on train deal that ended months of Sydney strikes