By Zach Hope and Charlotte Grieve
Premier Daniel Andrews has shot back at the union leader behind Thursday's Melbourne-wide tram strike after she publicly questioned whether his public transport minister was "out of her depth".
As many as 1500 tram drivers and staff walked off the job from 10am to 2pm on Thursday as part of their second strike to demand better pay and conditions.
Striking drivers outside the Malvern tram depot.Credit: Justin McManus
Speaking to 3AW on Thursday morning, Rail, Tram and Bus Union secretary Luba Grigorovitch ramped up the rhetoric with an attack on Public Transport Minister Melissa Horne for failing to resolve the union's long-running dispute with Yarra Trams.
“I don’t know if the minister is asleep at the wheel, I don’t know if she’s out of depth – I’m not sure what’s going on,” Ms Grigorovitch said.
“But I think they need to be reminded it is the state government – it is the taxpayers of Victoria – that give the profits back to this multinational company.”
Mr Andrews condemned the action as not advancing the cause of anyone and said the attack on Ms Horne was out of place.
Union leader Luba Grigorovitch.Credit: Chris Hopkins
"The minister does not employ these staff, a private company employs these staff," Mr Andrews said.
"Colourful commentary about the minister does not achieve anything nor does this industrial action, it inconveniences passengers."
The union wants an annual 6 per cent pay rise over four years, but Yarra Trams has offered an annual rise of 3 per cent over four years.
Negotiations have stalled and another strike is planned for October 10 if a resolution is not found.
"The union should sit down and work through these issues in good faith. We're prepared to be involved in that," Mr Andrews said.
"We won't settle for this nonsense that somehow these staff are directly employed by the government, they are not. They are employed by a private company."
Yarra Trams chief executive Nicholas Gindt said the industrial strike was disruptive and did not advance the pay talks.
“This strike is unnecessary because we are hopeful to negotiate further with RTBU, hoping they will come back very soon to the negotiation table,” Mr Gindt said.
Ms Grigorovitch said Yarra Trams' proposal had already been "overwhelmingly rejected" twice by employees.