’Been here before’: NSW Premier Chris Minns doesn’t want to ‘put the cart before the horse’ following Fair Work Commission’s rail strike ruling

NSW Premier Chris Minns has given more details after rail industrial action was suspended following disruptions to more than 4000 services.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said he didn’t want to “put the cart before the horse” ahead of negotiations with rail unions after an order was made to suspend industrial action until July.

“We’ve been here before,” he said.

Fair Work Commission president Justice Adam Hatcher on Wednesday said a suspension would allow both Sydney Trains and the Combined Rail Unions to “nail down the agreed matters and to focus on the merits, rationale and affordability of the outstanding claim for a sign-on bonus free of these pressures”.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union was ordered to suspend industrial action until July. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

The unions were ordered to suspend industrial action until July after more than 4000 services were either axed or delayed since last Friday.

Mr Minns said he was confident a deal could be reached before July, but “we’ve been here before, so (I) don’t want to put the cart before the horse”.

He rejected the suggestion the government would need to improve its offer to the unions while speaking at a press conference on Thursday morning.

“No, I don’t accept that, but we’re open to genuine discussions about what a package would look like,” Mr Minns said.

“In many respects we’re agnostic about how we distribute those two things – pay and conditions – as long as the quantum is something that’s manageable for NSW taxpayers.

“It’s difficult for me to publicly comment on a very complex award, but … we now get the opportunity to sit down, calmly work through a deal as soon as possible.

“The good news is that we won’t be holding the people of NSW hostage in the intervening period.”

Mr Minns revealed he’d had conversations with the federal government ahead of the commission’s ruling and confirmed NSW Minister for Transport John Graham would remain in his role until a deal was landed.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said ‘we’ve been here before’ when asked if he was confident a deal could be reached by July. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

FARE-FREE DAY

Mr Minns assured the public the government would protect both taxpayers and the travelling public in negotiations and said a fare-free day would be announced.

However, he declined to say when the fare-free day would take place, saying he didn’t expect it to be announced before a deal was finalised with the unions.

“Our job at the moment is to get reliability back into public transport so that when you turn up to a train station the train is there and you can get to work on time,” he said.

“But we recognise that in addition to that we have to rebuild patronage numbers, get people confident enough to use public transport to get to work.

“A fare-free day is an important way of doing it. We want to work with business groups including Business NSW to announce that day soon.

“Give us a bit of time, we’ll announce the date soon.”

Mr Minns said a fare-free day was ‘incredibly important’ but wasn’t likely to be announced before a deal was reached with the union. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

Mr Graham welcomed the commission’s decision and said the government was confident a deal could be reached.

“We believe a deal is possible, but it won’t be a deal at any price,” Mr Graham said.

“That’s always been the government’s position: We want fair pay and conditions for rail workers as we do for essential workers across the state.”

He said trains ran smoothly on Thursday and the next step was “discussion, not disruption”.

COMMISSION SUSPENDS INDUSTRIAL ACTION

The FWC on Wednesday found that continued industrial action was “unlikely” to resolve the dispute and instead could result in both parties moving “further apart.”

It also rejected Sydney Trains’ request for the suspension to extend until September 6.

“The purpose of a suspension is to achieve a cooling-off period in order to enhance the prospects of an enterprise agreement being reached and not to operate as a de facto termination of bargaining,” it said.

Transport Minister John Graham will remain in his role until a deal is reached with the RTBU. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

Justice Hatcher said the decision was made in the public interest to allow public confidence in the rail network’s reliability to be restored.

The decision came after about 4300 train services were cancelled or delayed between Friday and Monday and more than 1725 rail staff didn’t report for work.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union NSW branch secretary Toby Warnes said the decision was “incredibly disappointing” and “set an industrial agenda for aggressive employers”.

He said the union was concerned the government would “continue to sit on its hands rather than reach an agreement with its rail workforce” without the threat of industrial action.

Mr Graham on Wednesday said the ruling “promises an end to disruption for commuters in Sydney”.

“We’re now in a position to respectfully get back to work,” he said.

“This is clear air for these discussions, but most importantly, it’s a clear run for commuters as they’re moving about the city, and that’s what really matters here.”