NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet threatens rail union
The NSW Premier has issued a stunning ultimatum as Sydney’s commuter chaos reaches breaking point.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has handed down a fiery ultimatum to the rail union as commuters experience their worst day of travel chaos following a month of delays and disruptions.
Sydney ground to a halt on Wednesday after 70 per cent of the city’s train fleet did not run because the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) refused to operate foreign-made trains for 24 hours.
These issues were compounded by bus drivers who walked off the job in a separate strike, which led to a heavy backlog on the roads due to the higher-than-usual traffic congestion.
Those who did travel by train were squashed together like sardines after experiencing delays of at least 30 minutes.
A furious Mr Perrottet called the RTBU’s actions “disgraceful” and vowed they would end on Wednesday.
“What we saw this morning was absolutely disgraceful,” he said.
“This ends today; it will not continue. I will not have our city grind to a halt, our people inconvenienced anymore by the actions of a union movement that belongs back in the 1970s.”
The NSW government and RTBU have been locked in a heated dispute over a new enterprise agreement and the union’s safety concerns with a $2.8bn intercity train fleet.
The union wants the government to commit to modifying the trains by signing a written deed.
The government had previously tied these train alterations to a new enterprise agreement being finalised that created tension between the two parties and drew out negotiations.
The union also demanded an extra pay increase of 0.5 per cent, which is above the public sector wages cap.
The government refused that offer and announced on Wednesday that it would hand a final enterprise agreement to the RTBU.
Mr Perrottet warned that if the union took any further action after it was agreed to, he would go to the Fair Work Commission to tear up that agreement and take back their offer to modify the new InterCity fleet.
“Today, I have instructed the Transport Minister to finalise all negotiations with the RTBU. That will then go to a vote,” Mr Perrottet said.
“If there is any further industrial action until that enterprise agreement has been voted on, we immediately seek to terminate the current agreement and we will remove the new InterCity fleet from that agreement. That starts from today.
“We’ll have the new agreement arbitrated by the Fair Work Commission and that will be resolved in that manner.”
NSW Transport Minister David Elliott said he was “happy” to deliver Mr Perrottet’s ultimatum and would be prepared to keep fighting the union until next year’s state election.
“We’ll go with the enterprise agreement today under our terms. You don’t like it, we’ll shred it,” he said.
“I backed them (the RTBU) in every step of the way, they’ve shat on me from a great height.
“I’m happy to fight the next seven months of this campaign based on rail worker union action, on union thuggery.”
Sydney commuters experienced a hectic morning on the city’s road and public transport services.
Traffic was backed up 15km to the M7 interchange at Moorebank earlier on Wednesday after a motorbike crash at 7am closed two of the M5’s citybound lanes.
One of the two citybound lanes on the M5 East was also closed down after a van broke down, while a westbound lane on the M5 approaching the Hume Highway was closed due to a crash and vehicle rollover.
All lanes have reopened, but the incidents created heavy traffic and commuters have been told to allow for extra time.
Earlier on Wednesday, an overheight truck got stuck in the Sydney Harbour Tunnel.
The truck became trapped just before 6am, meaning all southbound lanes were closed as drivers were told to use the Harbour Bridge instead.
The truck was promptly moved about five minutes later and all southbound lanes have since reopened, but traffic is reportedly still backed up.
The situation is similar on the state’s rail networks, with Transport NSW warning travellers that they can expect significant disruptions all day with most trains operating on a reduced weekend timetable.
Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland told commuters to avoid travelling by train and to work from home if they can.
“Customers can expect a reduced frequency on Wednesday across most of the suburban network, with at least a 30-minute gap between services. We recommend avoiding all non-essential rail travel where possible,” Mr Longland said.
“Customers should expect disruption including delays, altered stopping patterns and cancellations, with some of these impacts to be felt from around 9pm on Tuesday as we prepare for the reduced timetable. Please plan ahead, check the latest updates, and be respectful of frontline staff during this time.”
“We continue our intensive bargaining with the RTBU this week to minimise the ongoing impact to our customers.”
Buses will replace trains on the T3 Bankstown line between Lidcombe and Bankstown and the T7 Olympic Park line between Lidcombe and Olympic Park.
There will be no train services operating on the T5 Cumberland line. Commuters will need to change at Granville to complete their journey.
For Intercity customers, Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Newcastle will operate on a weekend timetable.
South Coast Intercity services will operate hourly between Kiama and Waterfall, while buses will replace trains on the Port Kembla line between Port Kembla and Wollongong
NSW TrainLink’s regional booked services or the Hunter and Southern Highlands lines will not be impacted by the action.
These disruptions are compounded by Sydney bus drivers walking off the job for significant parts of the day.
More than 1000 region six drivers from the Transport Workers Union (TWU) will stop working from 4am to 7am and 2.30pm to 5.30pm.
Region six encompasses areas like the city’s inner west, Olympic Park, Leichhardt, Chatswood and Bondi Junction.
TWU NSW Secretary Richard Olsen said Wednesday’s industrial action was unrelated to the RTBU’s and was simply coincidental.
“There’s no association with the RTBU in what they do with the trains … we’re private bus company drivers.” he told 2GB.
“It happens to coincide with the train strike.”
The TWU is striking over pay and safety concerns.
The state government had high hopes that it could put a stop to Wednesday’s strikes after sending a list of concessions to the RTBU over the weekend.
But after a full-day meeting on Monday, the two parties were still unable to come to a resolution.
RTBU NSW secretary Alex Claassens said the government could have stopped their industrial action if the written deed had been signed.
“The government has had the opportunity on many occasions to resolve this dispute,” he said on Tuesday.
“Instead of agreeing to the deed, we’ve been forced into another round of lengthy talks rather than getting on with the job of getting a signed deed which we can take to members and delegates to consider.
“As far as the safety issues with the new InterCity fleet … they had it (the deed) on June 30, they had it on Friday. All they needed to do was sign that document and we could have been standing here today talking about how tomorrow’s going back to normal.
“We have other outstanding issues in the enterprise negotiations like our conditions around cleaning and infrastructure … and then obviously the thing that everybody wants is more money.”
He also accused “boofhead politicians” and their “shock jock” mates of using inflationary language that had incited death threats to workers.
“We ask that the ministers involved refrain from using such inflammatory words, especially as work towards a resolution on the new InterCity fleet modifications,” Mr Claassens said.
“By labelling frontline workers as ‘thugs’ and ‘holding the state to ransom’ is just lying.
“Regardless of who is at fault for the delays, this type of violence is unacceptable, and the fact that ministers from the NSW government are using this inflammatory language is actively encouraging the dregs of society and it speaks volumes to the quality of this government.”
Mr Elliott called the union’s industrial action a “co-ordinated political attack on the government”.
“If you needed any evidence at all that this is a co-ordinated political attack on the government, then you just have to look at your front window this morning,” he told 2GB.
“This is a strategic co-ordinated campaign.”
Mr Longland said he hoped this would be the end of the union’s industrial action.
“I certainly hope we’re very close to the end,” he told 2GB on Wednesday.
“We’ve been in the room with the union leaders of all of the rail unions Monday, Tuesday and again today, Minister Elliott’s going to join us in the room today.
“We hope that we're getting very close because this really is becoming increasingly frustrating for everyone, for customers, also for our staff.”
Mr Claassens has committed to two weeks of “relative peace” following the union’s wave of industrial action throughout August.
“There will still be a series of industrial actions that we’ve had on all the time. Things like wearing badges, wearing T-shirts … that stuff will continue,” he said.
NSW Labor leader Chris Minns called for “cooler heads to prevail” on Tuesday and said any future industrial action should be paused while the two parties meet at the negotiation table.
Mr Claassen took exception with Mr Minns’ comments because they “have been at the bloody table” with the state government.
“We expect the Labor Party to be going out there and standing up for worker rights,” he said.
“That’s what they should be doing and they are not doing it.”
Negotiations between the two parties are continuing on Wednesday.
Mr Elliott walked out of a meeting with the union after talking to them for less than 30 minutes.
Speaking to reporters as he left, he reiterated Mr Perrottet’s ultimatum by saying the Premier had made it “very clear what’s next”.
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