More than 800 train services cancelled as government and union exchange blows
Sydney train commuters are being warned of more chaos on the weekend after pay negotiations fell apart, leading to a war of words between the government and union.
Sydney train commuters are facing more chaos for the afternoon peak hour with 90 per cent of services delayed or cancelled as union and goverment talks for a new pay deal spectacularly collapsed.
Weekend travellers have also been warned of disruptions and ongoing cancellations.
The long-running pay dispute between the NSW government and rail union has escalated into a bitter war of words that left commuters stranded, with more than 800 cancelled services on Friday.
Those who made it to their destination after the morning chaos, are facing an uphill battle to get a train home.
Transport for NSW said more than more than 90 per cent of peak services on Friday were delayed or cancelled.
“By 1.30pm, more than 800 services were cancelled and 396 services delayed,” Transport said.
“Our teams are working to restore as many services as possible.
“However, there will be significantly reduced frequency of service across all lines during the afternoon peak and evening.
“Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink apologise to our passengers for the disruption. Our staff are working hard to minimise the impacts of industrial action.”
UNIONS ACCUSE GOVERNMENT
Rail, Tram and Bus Union NSW branch secretary Toby Warnes blasted the Minns government for sending lockout notices to rail workers, labelling the disruptions to services a “shame”.
The union had flagged trains were set to run 23km/h slower in areas of track where the speed limit was more than 80km/h from Friday as part of “go slow”.
But negotiations that had shown promise broke down overnight.
“It was low level action that has been blown up by an aggressive government move”, Mr Warnes said.
He said Friday’s disruption to services can be attributed to the government issuing 5000 individual lockout notices last Friday to train crew workers.
“The government issued these letters, which are well and truly public, essentially saying that ‘if you intend to take the go slow, we’re not going to accept any work from you at all, essentially go home’,” Mr Warnes told Sky News.
“Essentially, (these notices said) don’t come to work on Friday, and then the government were shocked that no one came to work on Friday.”
The 11th-hour breakdown of negotiations overnight was triggered by disagreements over a $4500 bonus payment, which Mr Warnes said was an “existing entitlement” that had “never been raised by Transport NSW once” in 10 months of negotiation.
However, the government has claimed the bonus payment, which existed in the 2023 enterprise agreement, was a one-off.
DISPUTE HEADS TO COURT
The NSW government is taking the rail union to court after hundreds of trains were cancelled.
All Sydney train services are affected by the industrial action, including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Newcastle, Hunter, South Coast, Southern Highlands and T1-T9 lines.
Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink warned that delays and service cancellations were being experienced across the network on Friday.
NSW Minister for Transport John Graham said the government had requested an urgent hearing from the Fair Work Commission after the public transport system was thrown into chaos.
“I can indicate that the government is lodging applications in the Fair Work Commission to stop this industrial action that is taking place,” Mr Graham said.
“At the moment, we’ll be seeking an urgent hearing in order to have that take effect, and that will provide us a path forward.”
A Sydney Trains application to deal with a bargaining dispute is listed before the Fair Work Commission on Monday morning.
The latest dispute revolves around the $4500 bonus, which the RTBU claims was in the negotiated enterprise agreement.
“We were negotiating into the night with the NSW government, unfortunately it hit a sticking point when TfNSW at the last moment asked that a clause be taken out of our enterprise agreement,” Mr Warnes said.
“It’s disappointing that we’ve seen the delays that we’ve seen across the network this morning and commuters will likely see throughout the day.”
However Mr Graham said the $4500 sign-on bonus was in place under the last agreement with the rail union, and the government and former minister for transport agreed it was a “one-off agreement”.
”It’s only the union who believes this was on the table over 10 months, and that is now the key barrier to reaching agreement here,” Mr Graham said.
“I want to be clear … this is not a lockout. We want these drivers at work, we want these trained staff at work while these negotiations continue. That’s the goal here.”
He called the action “very confusing” from a public point of view.
“At one point it was about free fares, at one point it was about 24-hour running, now it’s about a sign-on bonus.
“We understand that this needs to be settled. The concern here is, if the government agreed to this most recent demand, when would it end?”
Mr Graham said there was a “fair offer on the table”.
“We’re open to negotiations, but at some point we’ve got to be able to deliver to the public a wide result for these essential workers that assists them but trains that run for the public,” he said.
‘GASLIGHTING’ CLAIM
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey apologised for the disruption and claimed the union was “gaslighting” the public.
“I’m so sorry that Sydney has woken up to a sneak strike in support of a wild claim,” Mr Mookhey said.
“I do want to say that I think the union is gaslighting Sydney.
“I think what they’re saying to the public, what they’re saying to the government, and what they’re saying to the courts is clearly very different to what they’re saying to their own members.
“I think that type of behaviour has to be called out.”
‘HIGHWAY ROBBERY’
Former NSW minister for transport David Elliott told 2GB the $4500 payment was a “one-off” payment brought in to halt industrial action in previous years.
As such, he suggested union members should not be attempting to claim the payment now.
“I think that these guys are having a lend, I’m glad to see Daniel Mookhey and the Premier standing up to them because this is just highway robbery,” Mr Elliott said.
“For them to try to continue to get that $4500 one-off payment, it was a payment that we negotiated so that we would be able to get the trains (running and) limit, if not get rid of, the then industrial action.”
DELAY TRAVEL PLANS
Commuters were warned there would be “large gaps in service” through Friday.
“A limited train service is currently operating across most lines, large gaps in service and crowding are expected,” they said in an alert posted to X.
“Please allow extra travel time, consider delaying your travel plans or if possible catching Metro or other nearby public transport services to continue your journey if you are able to do so.”
Transport for NSW had urged passengers to delay non-essential travel.
“Our teams are working hard to recover as much of the timetable as possible, however, due to a high level of staff absences, we are looking at ongoing, substantial, and worsening disruption,” Transport for NSW said in a statement.
“Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink apologise to our passengers once again for the disruption and thank commuters for their understanding as staff at the Rail Operations Centre and across the network work to minimise the impacts of this difficult industrial
period.”
The South Coast Line was set to be particularly affected, with no train services running at all.
Transport for NSW said four buses were operating in the area between Wollongong and Kiama and Kiama and Bomaderry.
‘LET’S F**K UP THE NETWORK’
An RTBU convener allegedly told union members to stay home in a text message, saying “Let’s f**K up the network”, according to reports by 2GB.
However, RTBU NSW secretary Toby Warnes said he wasn’t aware of the text.
“Ben, look, to be honest, I’m not aware of the text that you’ve read out,” he told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.
“We certainly didn’t direct our members to do anything in response to the lockout notices.”
Mr Warnes later said he was sure there’d be many more similar text messages circulating between workers while speaking at a press conference on Friday.
“I can’t comment on the circumstances around that particular message, but as I said, when you send 5000 (lockout) notices … in the age of social media, you’re always going to have chatter,” Mr Warnes said.
The industrial action comes after the RTBU claims Sydney and NSW Trains notified workers that they would lock out employees and dock their pay if they caused transport to run slower than the timetabled
“We asked the government to rescind its lockout notices to ensure services ran smoothly on Friday, but unfortunately they refused,” Mr Warnes said.
“We hope that the NSW government doesn’t choose to blow this up and cause serious delays, but the reality is we can’t predict the impact.
“It’s bitterly disappointing that we haven’t been able to reach a sensible agreement over the past 48 hours. We were incredibly close in negotiations but it seems there are people within Transport for NSW who are still intent on blowing this dispute up.”
Mr Graham rejected the suggestion on Friday morning.
“This isn’t a lockout – we’re obviously, though, not paying people to take industrial action,” Mr Graham said on 2GB.
He said the government had on Wednesday agreed with the union to postpone the action and to ensure people didn’t have their pay docked, with the offer “still on the table this morning”.
“That is something we’d like to see. Negotiations have been positive, but we just have not agreed at the moment,” Mr Graham said.
“That’s no reason, though, for commuters to be impacted, for small businesses to be impacted. From the government end, the offer’s here right now to be able to say if we can postpone those actions, the government’s certainly happy to step back from the pay docking.”
Mr Warnes said he was sure commuters, the government, and the union were “over it” by now and he would also like to see a resolution.
“I hope we can get back around the table today and just resolve this thing, but the immediate fix to this is for the government to just rescind its lockout notices,” Mr Warnes told 2GB.
The industrial action was branded an “act of bastardry” by Fordham.
NewsWire has contacted Transport for NSW for comment.
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