NSW train strike chaos: Premier takes hard line against union

PREMIER Gladys Berejik­lian has stared down rail union chiefs, delivering a warning shot that NSW would not be held ransom.

PREMIER Gladys Berejik­lian has stared down rail union chiefs, delivering a warning shot that the state would not be held ransom.

The Premier’s hard line came as Sydney was saved from a crippling train strike when the Fair Work Commission backed the state government in an 11th-hour legal bid to halt the crisis.

The strike was suspended for six weeks when the Fair Work Commission found a plan to halt all rail services on Monday threatened to ­“endanger the welfare” of part of the population and damage the economy.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks beside NSW Transport and Infrastructure Minister Andrew Constance yesterday.

While the hearing was under way, the Premier fronted the union representatives herself for the first time in the stalemate to declare the government would stand by its wages policy.

Ms Berejiklian, whose attendance at the meeting was a surprise, told union officials she had been disappointed in how they conducted negotiations and relied on a haphazard text message poll of members to justify a strike.

A crowded platform at Town Hall on Thursday.

Notices keep commuters updated at Circular Quay.

Her tough stance on the wage caps policy, which limits pay rises at 2.5 per cent, unless employees trade off other productivity savings, comes as other major pay negotiations are due in coming months.

The union and the government now have six weeks to get members across the line on a pay deal that would give them a 2.75 per cent pay rise per year, a $1000 bonus cash payment and extended free travel across the network.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Andrew Constance makes a point alongside the Premier.

Rail Tram and Bus Union boss Alex Claassens said Transport Minister Andrew Constance needed to bring a reasonable offer to the table.

“Commuters and workers deserve a quick resolution to this. The Transport Minister can deliver that simply by coming to the table with a reasonable offer,” he said.

Ms Berejiklian was forced to defend Mr Constance, who has had a prickly relationship with Mr Claassens.

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“I think he’s done a great job, I think NSW is lucky to have Andrew Constance as the Transport Minister,” she said. Asked if he would remain transport minister until the 2019 election, she said: “Absolutely.”

The state government said its position had been “vindicated” by the Fair Work Commission but Australian Council of Trade Unions ­secretary Sally McManus ­declared the “basic right to strike in Australia is very nearly dead”.