Anti-vaccine sentiment threatened Melbourne train network

So many train drivers and Metro staff refused Covid vaccines it threatened to bring down Melbourne’s train network.

So many Melbourne train drivers, station staff and inspectors refused to have Covid-19 vaccines it threatened the viability of Melbourne’s suburban train network, a tribunal has heard.

A group of 14 former Metro Trains employees last week lost their unfair dismissal cases in the Fair Work Commission, after being sacked late last year when they refused to have Covid-19 vaccines.

The tribunal heard nearly 10 per cent of train drivers and station staff, and nearly 20 per cent of structure inspectors last year refused to comply with state government vaccine directions.

The 14 former staff were among those put on unpaid leave when they refused be vaccinated. The tribunal heard Metro Trains management then became “concerned at the operational impact of employee absences”.

Commissioner Michelle Bissett said Metro Trains “reached a view that it could not operationally support the absence of staff who did not wish to be vaccinated for an extended period” and “needed to plan for how it would deliver on its operational requirements”.

The viability of Melbourne’s train network was threatened by anti-vax sentiment. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

The operator sent letters to all unvaccinated employees in late October last year saying management had “no choice but to terminate their employment” and train up new staff.

If the operator had let its anti-vaxxer staff remain on leave indefinitely, and hired replacement staff to do their jobs, it would have been left with too many employees on the books when the vaccine mandate lifted.

“Metro Trains has a business to run,” Commissioner Bisset said in a lengthy written decision.

“Metro Trains has the right to make decisions as to how to deal with the need for staff on the job in the circumstances that existed at the time.”

Some of the workers unsuccessfully claimed they were “discriminated against” as being vaccinated was “against their religious or other beliefs”.

Others, in statutory declarations signed after being placed on unpaid leave, claimed they were “ready willing and able” to work, but Commissioner Bissett said this was “not the case” because it was unlawful for them to attend work unvaccinated.

Others unsuccessfully claimed being notified of their sackings by email was “harsh, unjust or unreasonable”.

Commissioner Bissett also rejected claims Metro Trains did not properly respond to a series of pseudo-legal “questions” about the Constitution, the Biosecurity Act, the Nuremburg Code “and so on”.

In a statement, Metro Trains said: “We are proud of our staff who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic and acted to keep them and their community safe”.