Sydney to avoid rail shutdown after last-minute crisis talks

Sydney commuters will avoid what was set to become one of the worst shutdowns of the city’s rail network after the Minns Labor government agreed during crisis talks on Thursday to run 24-hour train services this weekend in return for the union dropping work bans.

The latest ceasefire offers both sides time to enter intense negotiations involving six unions over a new pay deal and averts a shutdown which would have been costly politically for the government because of the disruption it would inflict on commuters.

A shutdown of Sydney’s passenger rail network was averted at a crisis meeting on Thursday.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Emerging from more than two hours of crisis talks, Premier Chris Minns said intensive bargaining would begin between the government and unions for two weeks from next Monday, and he was hopeful that it “reaps an agreement”.

“So an interim agreement, effectively now, and hopefully a long-term agreement over the next two weeks,” he said. “The heat’s on us to get an agreement.”

The government has agreed to run as many 24-hour train services this weekend as possible, bowing to a key demand from the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU). In return, the RTBU will drop 109 bans for the next two weeks during the intense period of bargaining for a new pay deal.

“It means that we avoid industrial action now and means that we can get in the room to nut out a good faith deal between the unions and the government,” Minns said.

Premier Chris Minns spoke to reporters on Thursday at parliament after crisis talks with unions to avert a train strike.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

Under the temporary deal, 24-hour train services will only operate this weekend.

Opposition Leader Mark Speakman accused Minns of capitulating to the RTBU’s demands, and simply deferring the problem for two weeks.

He questioned why “intensive” negotiations were only beginning six months after the union’s claims were first raised.

Apart from an 8 per cent annual pay rise over four years, unions are seeking a “privatisation protection” clause which would ensure rail workers retain existing pay and conditions if a company bought or operated some transport services.

NSW’s combined rail unions

There are 14,000 rail workers in the state. Of these, the RTBU makes up the majority, with 10,000 members at Sydney Trains and NSW Trains.

• Rail, Tram, and Bus Union (RTBU)
• Electrical Trades Union (ETU)
• Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU)
• Australian Services Union (ASU)
• Australian Workers Union (AWU)
• Professionals Australia

Keeping workers on public sector salaries would remove the incentive to take on public transport assets because it would make it difficult for a company to slash the labour bill.

RTBU state secretary Toby Warnes thanked the premier for intervening in the dispute, saying he helped facilitate the concession that trains would run for 24 hours over the weekend as requested by the union.

“We’ve given the premier a commitment that trains will continue to run as timetabled and as normal for at least the period of negotiation that we’ve agreed to,” he said outside parliament after the nearly three-hour meeting concluded.

“Hopefully, we’re done by the time the two weeks is up and everything can go back to normal.”

Warnes said the parties had agreed to spend the next fortnight trying to thrash out a deal through the Fair Work Commission. This involved an independent bureaucrat from the Treasury assessing the savings and productivity gains the union had identified as part of the wages deal.

Asked whether the government was kicking the can down the road, Transport Minister Jo Haylen said good progress had been made in the negotiations, and both parties wanted to see an agreement reached on a new pay deal.

Early this week Haylen warned that running trains 24 hours a day was unsustainable and put “incredible strain” on the rail network. The government had put the cost of round-the-clock services at $1.5 million a week.

Asked what had changed, Haylen said that the 24-hour services this weekend would not apply to the entire network, allowing ongoing maintenance to be carried out.

She apologised to commuters for the uncertainty caused this week, and to those who had planned alternative travel arrangements for this weekend amid warnings of a network shutdown.

“[The agreement] does give us that two-week window where the 109 bans will not be applied that will allow us to run a reliable train service,” she said.

Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou said avoiding a shutdown was a relief for the city, and hopefully a negotiated agreement could be reached in the coming weeks without the threat of disruption.

“The threatened industrial action of this week should never have reached such a disturbing point. Businesses have already been damaged with bookings cancelled and confidence in public transport services eroded,” he said.

While the rail network shutdown has been averted, Transport for NSW confirmed that it will still push ahead with an increase to services on Sydney’s light rail network this weekend, as well as on the M1 metro line between Tallawong and Sydenham via the city centre on Friday.

The metro line will, however, be shut this weekend for major maintenance work.

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