Government launches legal action to stop rail disruptions

The NSW government has launched legal action against rail unions in an attempt to halt a planned escalation in industrial action across the state’s railways later this week.

Premier Dominic Perrottet said the government had triggered proceedings in the Fair Work Commission on Monday morning after negotiations with rail workers had again broken down.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet.Credit: Brook Mitchell, Janie Barrett

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) had earlier warned that it would ramp up protected industrial action this week as it remains at loggerheads with the government over the future of NSW’s new intercity train fleet and a new pay deal covering members of five other unions.

Perrottet said rail workers’ insistence on continuing industrial action after the government made concessions to union demands to modify the new intercity trains was proof that their strategies were politically motivated.

“The response of the RTBU in my view was purely political. To continue industrial action shows a lack of good faith,” he said. “We’ve done everything we can to a point where we agreed last week, based on the numerous discussions that have taken place, to have modifications made to the best trains you can have in the world.”

The government last week conceded to making $260 million worth of modifications to the brand-new trains, which are sitting in storage on the state’s Central Coast. However, the rail union is refusing to accept the offer without signed guarantees.

Trains were severely overcrowded at Central Station last Friday when rail workers refused to operate foreign-built trains.Credit: Janie Barrett

The government filed papers with the industrial umpire at 10.30am on Monday seeking orders to stop industrial action by the RTBU.

The move comes a day earlier than an ultimatum that Transport Minister David Elliott had previously given the RTBU.

RTBU state secretary Alex Claassens said it was frustrating that the government was seeking orders in Fair Work when the impasse over the new intercity fleet could be resolved by it signing a document guaranteeing that the new trains would be fixed.

“We are disappointed that they can’t do something as simple as sign a document to say they will fix the trains,” he said.

He rejected Perrottet’s claims that the RTBU’s actions were politically motivated, saying he would have the same conversations with Labor leader Chris Minns if he was premier. “Nothing could be further from the truth. It is ridiculous to suggest that [it is politically motivated],” he said.

Last Friday, Minns called on the unions to cease industrial action this week, given the government had agreed to make changes to the intercity fleet.

Claassens said he understood the government would also seek to call five other unions who represent other rail workers before the commission.

Unless Fair Work intervenes, the RTBU intends to push ahead on Wednesday and Friday with plans for its members to refuse to operate foreign-built trains, which make up about 75 per cent of NSW’s passenger rail fleet.

“What the RTBU needs is a guarantee that the government will fix the [new intercity fleet]. Otherwise, they are going to renege and backflip again,” Claassens said. “We just want something in writing from the government that they have allocated the money.”

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