Sydney Trains-Union strikes deal — but rail chaos still on cards
A RAIL strike may have been averted after an eleventh hour deal was struck late this afternoon between the Transport Minister and the union.
NSW
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A RAIL strike may have been averted after an eleventh hour deal was struck late this afternoon between the Transport Minister and the union.
Members of the Rail Tram and Bus Union must now vote in a ballot tomorrow but RTBU secretary Alex Claassens said the government had put forward an offer he believed was an acceptable offer.
“I am pleased to report there has been some progress made and we now have an offer on the table that the RTBU is prepared to put to our members,” he said.
“I won’t go into the specifics of that yet because I want our members to see it before they read about it in the media but I can tell you negotiations today have gone a long way towards addressing those concerns that we’ve had consistently around rostering provisions and those protections that we’ve been looking for.”
He said they would conduct a ballot of their members on the deal and hoped to have a clear indication of whether it would be successful by lunchtime on Wednesday.
“We consistently said it was never about the money it was about the conditions. Today we had people actually sit in the room and listen and talk about conditions.”
The union and Transport for NSW spent most of the day locked in crisis talks.
Earlier, the government was preparing for the city to explode into chaos as the union threatened industrial action on Monday.
Transport minister Andrew Constance has described the eleventh hour deal a positive first step.
“I still want to see obviously that the strike is called off given the impact it will have on commuters and we can be hopeful that will happen overnight,” he said.
“We’re not out of the woods yet but this is obviously a positive first step.
He said the rise of 2.75 per cent NSW public sector wage cap, but said that would be offset by employee related savings.
He described the employee related savings as “some small measures” which would offset the 2.75 per cent raise.
Earlier, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said her government was prepared to take legal action if next week’s planned 24-hour train strike couldn’t be averted through negotiations.
Ms Berejilkian urged all parties to put aside their differences and do what’s in the best interest of customers.
She said the state would do everything it can to prevent more than 9000 train workers stopping work next Monday.
“We do have legal recourse and we will be taking that action but of course our preference is that negotiations end in a positive way and that the strike action be averted,” she told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.
The rail union last night had earlier been refusing to sign a deal for a pay increase of 3 per cent with extra benefits.
The Rail, Train and Bus Union refused to sign on a deal that would give their workers a 3 per cent pay rise, while allowing them to retain their free Opal travel card and would also give them free travel on the Metro 2019 and the region 6 — the inner west bus service about to be privatised.
It is understood that while earlier the collective rail unions confirmed this would be the deal necessary to avert Monday’s industrial action, they made a last-minute backflip and said they needed more time “to take the deal to their members”.
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The 3 per cent figure is above the government’s 2.5 per cent cap and considered a significant concession to the union.
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Rail, Train and Bus Union boss Alex Claassens said there was ongoing concerns about rostering.
“Our members are angry, they’re fed up, they’re sick of getting the blame ... We just want a fair deal,” he said.
“I keep saying to the people of Sydney the railway workers that are out there now are trying to do the best job that they can.
“But we are sick of being the scapegoats of this government and we will continue to try and negotiate the best outcome we can.”
Sydney Trains boss Howard Collins said there had been three different offers made throughout the course of the day.
“I’m hoping that some overnight thinking and some common sense will prevail tomorrow morning,” he said.
“We haven’t walked away from the deal and they tell us they haven’t walked away from the deal.
“I really believe 3 per cent is a fair and reasonable offer.”
