Sydney Metro set to be next industrial action target
Frustrated commuters could face fresh rail chaos on the Sydney Metro in the coming months as the rail union gears up for its next wage battle.
NSW
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Sydney Metro could be the next industrial battlefield facing commuters this year, as the rail union gears up to fight for a wage increase when their enterprise agreement ends in August.
Commuters got a reprieve from months of rail chaos after the Fair Work Commission last month ordered the Combined Rail Unions to cease all industrial action on the heavy train network till July 1, so a pay agreement with Sydney Trains could be reached.
Yet The Daily Telegraph can reveal that unionised Sydney Metro staff will have the capability to wreak havoc on the celebrated network, should they take industrial action when their enterprise bargaining agreement ends on 22 August.
Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) figures claim that more than 80 per cent of all Sydney Metro staff are unionised, with staff in the agency among their fastest growing members.
The Minns government caved to demands from the RTBU in September to permanently place a metro staff member who can drive the driverless trains on every service on the southwest metro line when it opens next year.
After industrial action last year, Sydney Metro authorities agreed to place staff on every service between Sydenham and Bankstown but only on intermittent services between Sydenham and Tallawong.
The Minns government has maintained they did not agree to put qualified drivers on the Metro services, arguing the crew are not “train drivers” but are “customer journey coordinators” who can manually operate the train in emergency situations.
“Customer service coordinators on the Metro trains are trained to operate the train in an emergency as is appropriate,” a spokesperson for Transport Minister John Graham said.
“There are no train drivers on Metro trains.”
Yet the RTBU has flagged that should these customer journey coordinators take industrial action along with other Sydney Metro staff in the Operations Control Centre, the Metro “simply cannot run”.
An RTBU spokesperson said that rail workers captured by the wage agreement “perform a pivotal and safety critical role across the network, and without them, Metro Trains cannot operate safely, or in some circumstances at all”.
“The Metro simply cannot run without the hard working members that ensure it runs safely and efficiently each day,” the spokesperson said
“The RTBU always does everything in our power to avoid action that impacts commuters. If we are forced down that path, Metro workers would be able to participate in protected industrial action after the expiry of their current agreement.
“All Metro employees will be seeking a pay increase when EA negotiations commence.”
Opposition Transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said the government needed to ensure the industrial chaos did not extend to the Metro or “the credibility of the government’s transport policy will collapse”.
“After months of rail chaos, it now seems Sydney Metro could be dragged into this mess,” she said.
Unlike the RTBU’s ongoing dispute with Sydney Trains, which is owned by the NSW government, Sydney Metro is operated by private firm Metro Trains Sydney Pty. Limited. This means the government will have limited capacity to bargain directly with the union.
A spokesperson for Sydney Metro said the M1 line had been approved by the National Rail Safety Regulator as a fully automated line and could still run, should the on-board customer journey coordinators take industrial action.
“The design of the system, trains and signalling does not include the role of an on-board driver,” the spokesperson said.
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Originally published as Sydney Metro set to be next industrial action target
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