Rail unions set to continue campaign of chaos despite ceasefire

The combined rail unions have abandoned industrial action for now, but have vowed to continue their campaign of disruption that has caused serious headaches for Sydney commuters.

Rail union boss Toby Warnes has vowed to continue the industrial campaign that has caused chaos on Sydney’s trains, hours after Rail, Tram and Bus union lawyers pulled hundreds of disruptive work bans.

Commuters will be spared any union-related disruption for the next few weeks, but the ceasefire could be short-lived.

The Minns government on Wednesday caved and dropped a legal bid to end the industrial action for good after the Combined Rail Unions withdrew some 350 notified work bans in a Fair Work Commission.

In an email to members after the hearing, Mr Warnes claimed victory in defeating the government’s legal application and said the campaign would continue.

Wednesday’s outcome was a repeat of the temporary reprieve before Christmas that ensured New Year’s Eve rail services would go ahead uninterrupted.

However, there is nothing stopping rail unions seeking to impose new industrial actions on Sydney Trains.

RTBU NSW Secretary Toby Warnes has vowed to continue the industrial campaign. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

The Electrical Trades Union on Wednesday declared it would plan for a new round of work bans beginning as early as February 4.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen has vowed that if unions try to put fresh work bans in place, the government will go straight back to court in a bid to have them thrown out.

She claimed that the government had succeeded in ending industrial chaos that crippled the network last week.

“Any type of industrial action that … threatens our network and makes it clear that we can’t provide the services that people need, we will act,” she said.

“Today is an illustration of the fact that our actions have achieved the outcome,” she said.

However Ms Haylen would not guarantee that commuters would be spared any further industrial action before a new enterprise agreement is signed.

In one win for commuters, Wednesday’s legal proceedings mean that the government will be able to seek to stop any new industrial action before it starts.

Meanwhile, it can be revealed that the union was seeking a 20 per cent pay rise for members over three years under a counter offer proposed during negotiations.

In an email to members, Mr Warnes said that the counter offer would have delivered members a nine per cent pay rise in the first year, followed by two years of 5.5 per cent wage increases.

Sydney commuters will be spared any union-related disruption for the next few weeks but the ceasefire could be short-lived. Photographer: Ted Lamb

The union boss said that “egos” in the Minns Government had got in the way of getting a deal done, compared to negotiations with the former Coalition government.

“What the government doesn’t understand is that we’ve been through this before,” Mr Warnes told members.

Mr Warnes said that the Coalition had “turned out to be” a “more sensible” government than Labor when it came to negotiating with the rail unions.