Major concessions made in crisis talks to avert Sydney rail shutdown

The regional arm of NSW’s railways is set to be folded into a single passenger train operator as part of concessions the government made during high-stakes talks with unions to avert a shutdown of Sydney’s rail network.

Following two days of intense negotiations, rail unions said the government had agreed to abolish NSW TrainLink and bring all passenger services within one railway agency, which would help fast-track ways to find savings amid pay talks by removing duplication.

The XPT fleet is operated by NSW TrainLink, which is one of two state rail agencies.Credit: Nick Moir

After the two sides agreed to a temporary ceasefire, a fortnight of intense negotiations on a new enterprise agreement covering about 14,000 rail workers will start on Monday. Cost savings need to be found to help pay for wage rises.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) state secretary Toby Warnes said abolishing NSW TrainLink would remove the duplication in two agencies running the state’s railways, and save money as the two sides seek cost savings and productivity improvements.

“We have to find ways for efficiencies, and the most obvious was creating one railway again,” he said, adding that it was likely to occur during the term of a new enterprise agreement.

NSW TrainLink runs regional train and coach services including the diesel-powered Xplorer and XPT fleets, which operate as far afield as Melbourne, Brisbane and Broken Hill.

Following a government-commissioned review, the oversight of intercity trains, which operate from Sydney to Newcastle, Wollongong and the Blue Mountains, has been transferred to Sydney Trains.

The previous Coalition government created Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink in 2013 out of the old RailCorp and CityRail, two years after it swept to power.

According to the unions, the government also gave the nod on Thursday to one of their key claims for a multi-enterprise agreement, which is a protection for workers if parts of the state’s transport assets are outsourced or privatised.

Workers would be entitled to the same pay and conditions as they had in the public sector if their jobs were outsourced to a private company.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union state secretary Toby Warnes.Credit: Brook Mitchell

An application for a multi-enterprise agreement is already before the industrial umpire, and now needs the government to consent to it. The Fair Work Commission will then consider the merits of the application and whether the two sides can legally negotiate it.

Warnes said the government had also agreed to insert a redundancy deed into a new enterprise agreement, instead of it being separate. It would mean the 64-week cap on redundancy payments would roll over in future agreements.

It is a sign of the concessions made on Thursday during last-ditch negotiations which averted a shutdown of Sydney’s rail network by the government agreeing to run 24-hour trains this weekend in return for the RTBU not applying work bans. The crisis negotiations involved Premier Chris Minns, Transport Minister Jo Haylen and Treasurer Daniel Mookhey.

The next two weeks of intensive bargaining will involve a Treasury official assessing the savings and productivity gains the union had identified as part of the wages deal.

“It will be good to engage with Treasury and whether there is room to move on pay if we can find efficiency and productivity improvements,” Warnes said.

The government’s opening offer has been for wage rises of 9.5 per cent over three years, as well as a further 0.5 per cent in the first if a deal is reached in a “timely manner”. It is substantially lower than demands from the RTBU and five other unions for a 32 per cent pay rise over four years.

Fair Work is set to oversee the negotiations over pay.

The transport minister’s office was approached for comment.

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