Sydney trains: NSW Premier responds to RTBU threat to disable Opal Card readers

A union wants to make Sydney train rides free for the public, but the NSW Premier has poured cold water on the idea, making a threat of his own.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has said he will seek to rip up an enterprise agreement if a rail union goes ahead with plans to make Sydney trains free.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union has sought to disable Opal card readers on the NSW train network, in a bid to starve the government of revenue.

The union is locked in a bitter dispute with the NSW government over a new enterprise agreement, and a push to modify a train fleet.

“If that action is taken, either a further strike which … inconveniences people across the state, we will seek to terminate that agreement in the Fair Work Commission,” Mr Perrottet told a radio station on Tuesday.

Dominic Perrottet threatened to rip up an enterprise agreement. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Monique Harmer

“Any industrial activity taken on the metro system which is costing taxpayers billions, then we will also seek to terminate.”

Mr Perrottet previously threatened to shred the agreement in August.

RTBU secretary Alex Claassens said on Monday the union had submitted a new application to the Fair Work Commission after a previous plan to open ticket gates was thwarted by the government.

“So within 48 hours … the Commission will be asked to determine whether our actions can go ahead or not,” Mr Classens said.

“As soon as we can, we’re going to turn those Opal Card machines off again, and we’ll be giving the commuters in New South Wales free travel, until of course the government comes to their senses and agrees to sit down with us and negotiate, and fix our unsafe trains and agree on decent wages and conditions for our members.”

Also on Tuesday, another union entered the fray, siding with the RTBU and chastising Mr Perrottet for seeking advice from former prime minister John Howard.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union NSW Secretary Alex Claassens said the union would seek to disable Opal card readers. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dylan Coker

“Instead of sitting down with unions to get a fair deal for workers, the government is committed to intrigue and tactics that undermine workers’ right to take protected industrial action,” Australian Manufacturing Workers‘ Union NSW and ACT secretary Cory Wright said.

“By allowing the bargaining process to drag on for over a year, this government has shown it doesn’t value rail workers or commuters. It only seems to care about how much profit it can make from a public service.”

Mr Perrottet said of the meeting with Mr Howard: “I think it’s always important in these roles, to listen to and get advice from people who have gone through similar issues in the past.”

The RTBU announced their intentions to shut down the machines last week.

But the government responded with an application to the Fair Work Commission in which it asked the union plan to be found “unprotected”.

Employee Relations Minister Damien Tudehope and Transport Minister David Elliott issued a joint statement on Saturday in which they described the union‘s plan as “destructive”.

“The application to the independent FWC has been made following legal advice received by the government that the proposed action is prima facie unlawful,” the ministers said.

“Sydney Trains and NSW Train Link believe the notified action is also unsafe and could cause financial impacts on commuters.

“The submission comes after the Combined Rail Unions rejected a number of formal requests from transport officials to withdraw the action.”

Ticket inspectors were seen at some Sydney train stations on Monday morning, including at Central.

The NSW government previously made train rides free for a 12-day period around Easter as a way to say sorry for shutting down the train network, a move that was also made in the context of the longrunning industrial dispute with train staff.