Sydney train strike: Premier steps in over transport minister in bid to halt rail chaos
Negotiations between train unions and the Premier failed to end the dispute on Wednesday, with the massive train shutdown planned for Friday and weekend still going ahead. Limited extra Metro and light rail services have been added.
NSW
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Negotiations between train unions and Premier Chris Minns failed find a resolution to the dispute on Wednesday afternoon, with the massive train shutdown planned for Friday and weekend still going ahead.
A NSW government spokesperson said talks would continue tomorrow to avoid the catastrophic shutdown of the rail network.
“This afternoon the Premier and Transport Minister met with the combined rail unions,” a NSW government spokesperson said.
“While no agreement has been reached, we have agreed to continue talks tomorrow.”
The government later said additional Metro services would run on Friday, with a service running every four minutes all day until 8pm, after which it will run every eight minutes until the last train from Central to Tallawong at 1.30am Saturday.
The Metro would be shut over the weekend for scheduled maintenance work.
Additionally light rail will have additional services added on Saturday.
For music-fans heading to Sydney Olympic Park to see Pearl Jam on Saturday night, event buses will be in place but will only be able to operate on a limited capacity.
Earlier on Wednesday afternoon, the rail union warned they wouldn’t back down from industrial action which will strand millions of commuters this weekend — despite Premier Chris Minns stepping in to try and solve the issue.
RTBU NSW secretary Toby Warnes told media on Wednesday the union would continue to disrupt commuters every weekend until Christmas until the government accepts its wage demands.
“Our 24-hour action has been notified indefinitely — as far as we’re concerned our members stand behind that ban,” he said.
“We’re willing to stand by it and ensure that pressure is maintained.”
In a further sign of wage negotiations hitting rock bottom, Mr Warnes accused the Transport Minister of lying when she said there had been an agreement that trains would run on Thursday.
Mr Warnes argued the union had never had the intention of shutting trains down on Thursday and that the Minister’s suggestion a deal had been done was wrong.
“We were never going to take action on Thursday, so any suggestion that we’ve changed our industrial action or there has been an agreement to run trains on Thursday is just a falsity,” he said.
NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman called the proposed network shutdown “industrial terrorism” caused by an “incompetent” Transport Minister and a “weak” Premier.
“This is industrial chaos that Chris Minns has created because the unions know he is weak — they smell blood,” he said.
“He has been shamed by media outpouring into meeting the union this afternoon, until now he has not met the union once.
“Minns won’t take action in the Fair Work Commission, which is what he should be doing immediately.”
On Wednesday morning, Premier Chris Minns stepped in to clean up after his embattled transport minister in an attempt to prevent the rail network grinding to a halt for two days by meeting with representatives from Unions NSW and the Rail Tram and Bus Union.
It comes after Transport Minister Jo Haylen refused to take legal action against the RTBU, to try to prevent this weekend’s action.
Sydney commuters were warned on Wednesday they could face constant shutdowns of the train network every weekend until Christmas and beyond if the government and the train union do not come to an agreement.
Ms Haylen stared down calls to resign over the rail dispute on Wednesday morning, saying she would not leave the job over the crisis.
“I am here, I will continue to be here,” she said.
“I do find it predictable that the opposition is calling for me to resign – I would say there is a fundamental difference here.
“Under the former government people woke up in the morning expecting there to be a train and there wasn’t one and the Minister was asleep.
She doubled down over her refusal to take the train union to the Fair Work Commission as was done under the previous government. The Commission has the power to rule the strike action unlawful.
Yet the Minister said she would not do so even at the 11th hour.
“The former government took that type of action and it was a failed strategy,” she said.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union have indicated they expect the Minns government to run 24-hour services every weekend indefinitely as a ploy in their wage negotiations.
But Ms Haylen has repeatedly said the government cannot run the extra services indefinitely with commuters facing whole network shutdowns for weeks on end.
“The action that the union has in place is indefinite,” she said on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, former Transport Minister Andrew Constance has criticised the government’s negotiations with unions, calling on Chris Minns and Jo Haylen to “step up”.
Mr Constance took aim at the Minns government’s handling of ongoing rail strikes, contrasting it with his approach when he was minister.
Speaking to 2GB, Constance highlighted his record as transport minister, claiming he maintained meetings with union leaders and avoided major disruptions.
“This is how you do it; it’s why I never had a rail strike in six and a half years as minister,” he said.
“Back in the day, the union leaders of the RTBU and Unions NSW let the members have a say, and they cared about the travelling public.
“Step up, Chris Minns, Jo Haylen, and Labor.”
Shadow Transport Minister Natalie Ward has called for Jo Haylen to be sacked, invoking Premier Chris Minns’ past stance on rail chaos.
“If Chris Minns applies his 2022 standard, then if the trains stop on Friday, she should be sacked,” Ward told 2GB.
“It’s good for the goose, it’s good for the gander, and if this is the way that they’re running this state, clearly there’s no leadership here.”
In 2022, during rail disruptions under the Coalition government, Minns, then opposition leader, called for the transport minister to resign.
Earlier on Wednesday the rail union walked back its plans to shut down Sydney’s rail network on Thursday, now planning action to begin from Friday.
Transport Minister Jo Haylen said it allowed the state government more time to negotiate with the union and to get commuters to key events such as a Pearl Jam concert at Homebush on Thursday night.
“The union met with Sydney Trains yesterday afternoon and I can confirm that the union has changed their industrial action which means that trains will now run on Thursday, which is good news,” she told 2GB.
“It gives us another day to continue our negotiations and hopefully get people where they need to go but the union industrial action is still planned for Friday and Saturday and we know that’s going to have a massive impact on millions of people who rely on these train services.”
A statement from Transport for NSW said: “ the union has agreed to run a regular train service on Thursday, including the planned 86 additional special event services to Olympic Park for the Pearl Jam concert.
“At this stage the RTBU has not agreed to lift their industrial action they have planned for Friday through to Sunday, which means the notified bans in place by the union will bring the heavy rail network to a shutdown on Friday, Saturday, and through until Sunday morning this weekend.
“Sydney Trains and NSW Trains remain committed to finding a resolution for our workforce this side of Christmas.”
Ms Haylen shifted the blame on the union, calling on it to lift its planned action.
“We want the union to lift this industrial action that they still have planned for Friday and Saturday,” she said on 2GB.
“We want to keep our city moving. No one wants this. Passengers don’t want this. I don’t want this. The government doesn’t want this. But the only way to keep trains running and to get people where they need to go is for the union to lift its industrial action.”
Passengers are also advised that from tomorrow, there will be service reductions and cancelled services on the Sydney Trains Intercity Network due to Protected Industrial Action.”
That action will impact passengers including those travelling to and from Newcastle, The Central Coast, the Blue Mountains, the Southern Highlands, and the Illawarra.
“This impact is due to cumulative Industrial Action, but primarily the ban restricting the number of kilometres train crew can work per day,” the statement said.
“Some limited emergency bussing is being organised for wherever possible, however numbers will be extremely limited.
“Passengers are advised to find alternative transport arrangements where possible, leave plenty of travel time, and plan your journey on transportnsw.info before catching public transport.”
TRAINWRECK: Union dictators to cause chaos
It comes as rail union dictators are set to bring Sydney to a devastating halt as they try to force the Minns government into a 32 per cent pay rise.
On Tuesday afternoon transport authorities warned they would have to shut the entire Sydney network if the Rail, Tram and Bus Union carries out three days of planned strikes from Thursday night until Sunday morning, in an unprecedented closure which would leave millions of commuters stranded, including those travelling intercity.
That has since been revised to begin on Friday.
Further industrial action could then impact midweek services also.
The RTBU is trying to force the government to give all rail workers a 32 per cent pay rise over four years and reduced weekly working hours. The union is only prepared to let workers operate on the trains over the weekend if the government run trains 24 hours a day.
The union claims it’s for the convenience of commuters, however the government has said it is a deliberate negotiating tactic that undermines the operation of the train network by preventing necessary trackwork.
Transport Minister Jo Haylen said: “If we continue to try and run 24-hour services over the weekend the fact is that it will eventually lead to the failure of our rail network.”
Both sides met on a brief Teams call on Tuesday but failed to make any ground on negotiations. Unless they reach an agreement, no trains will run at all from 10pm Thursday night until Sunday morning.
Ms Haylen said the shutdown would cause major disruption to millions of people, including families trying to get kids to school and that in many cases additional services could not be provided.
“It is not possible to provide transport services equivalent to the Sydney Trains services,” she said.
NSW Opposition leader Mark Speakman said the commuter chaos was a result of a “weak” Premier, leading to weekly strikes.
“The Minns Labor Government’s failure to control their union mates will leave commuters stranded and the city in chaos, yet again,” he said.
Commuters trying to get to multiple major events across the city this weekend will be left stranded, including those attending a Pearl Jam concert at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday night and A-League games at Allianz stadiums.
Transport for NSW secretary Josh Murray said there were some additional services that could be put on to help commuters get to those events, but that special buses were unable to be put on for all events across the weekend. The government will look at scheduling extra Metro services on Thursday and Friday but confirmed the Metro would also need to shut for planned maintenance.
“One million people per day are carried on Sydney Trains network and it is not possible to accommodate them on alternate services no matter what mode we rely on,” he said.
“We will look at bus and ferry capability, however they will already be running on Thursday and Friday at their usual capacity and so the amount of extra capability on the bus and ferry network will be tested.”
RTBU NSW secretary Toby Warnes said: “The reason we won’t lift the bans at this stage is ongoing frustrations with the government for not sitting at the negotiating table.”
The rail shutdown is a massive hit for the retail sector with many stores now promoting the Black Friday Sales.
Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou said the strikes could not have come at a worse time. “It’s happening … in the all important weeks leading up to Christmas,” he said.
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