Sydney train strikes: Two-week ceasefire avoids network shutdown

An 11th-hour deal between Labor and rail unions has averted the worst train network shutdown in memory as NSW Premier Chris Minns agreed to run a 24-hour service this weekend.

Trains operate for 24 hours across Friday and Saturday after a network shutdown was averted. Picture: Damian Shaw

A two-week ceasefire of intense bargaining between the NSW government and rail unions has averted the worst train network shutdown in memory as the Premier agreed to run a 24-hour service this weekend after 11th-hour talks.

The union has claimed it as a win, saying it showed when it applied “pressure” the government took its bargaining, and threats, “seriously”.

After four days of negotiations – playing out behind closed doors and a slew of press conferences – the Minns government and Rail, Tram and Bus Union emerged on Thursday afternoon after a three-hour meeting with a short-term agreement.

“We’ve struck an agreement to ensure the trains will operate this weekend, which is good news for commuters,” Mr Minns said, conceding he couldn’t guarantee that a similar shutdown could be averted in the future.

“Intensive bargaining will begin over the next two weeks, with a view from both sides to secure a long-term deal.

“The heat’s on us to get an agreement, I think the union feels the same way. It would have been great to get a long-term agreement negotiated, but we ran out of time (this week).”

Thursday’s agreement avoids this weekend’s shutdown, but also a similar scenario across the next two, with the union agreeing to lift all its 109 work bans during the two-week intense bargaining agreement.

The 24-hour service is anticipated to begin on Friday evening and continue until Sunday’s end, but a consensus was reached to allow some lines to close for maintenance.

The RTBU is negotiating over pay and conditions for about 14,000 train workers, and seeking a 32 per cent pay rise over four years, compared with the 9.5 per cent offered over three years by the government.

The union had refused to lift work bans that covered Friday and Saturday indefinitely unless the government agreed to run 24-hour services on those two days, which it had refused previously to do, saying it would “cripple” the network in the long run.

Premier Chris Minns, left, and Transport Minister Jo Haylen. Picture: John Appleyard

The union has used the ban as a negotiating ploy, forcing the government to either agree to 24-hour services, which hit the public purse, or shutdown the network, and cost the city’s economy and its political goodwill – saying its tactic ensured that commuters weren’t impacted.

RTBU NSW secretary Toby Warnes said that “without (the premier’s) help” it would have been likely the shutdown would have forged ahead, claiming the deal as a union win.

“Hopefully by the end of those two weeks, we have a resolution before Christmas, and we can see no further disruption,” he said.

“It (the short-term deal) shows that when pressure is applied, the government takes the bargaining seriously.”

The RTBU told its members after Thursday’s deal that the government had “caved”, something disputed by Mr Minns.

“I think both sides gave (concessions) in relation to this,” the premier said.

“We’re grateful that we can get two weeks of clear air and that (the union’s) bans won’t be applied… I think that’s an indication that we want to reach an agreement.”

The premier, however, “couldn’t guarantee” that a similar shutdown threat would transpire in three weeks’ time, after the end of the two-week intensive bargaining period.

Although routine 24-hour services across weekends would “strangle” the network in the long run, Transport Minister Jo Haylen said that the concession to the union to run all-day trains this weekend broke the impasse while allowing maintenance on some key lines.

“(This short-term deal) is confirmation of what has been already said, both by the government and the union, that we all want an outcome by Christmas,” she said.

Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey said 2025 would not be the “year of the strike”, praising the approach the Labor state government had taken with bargaining.

“(The bargaining) system is much better than what we’ve had for the last 12 years,” he said.

To Pearl Jam fans who can now travel to Sydney’s Olympic Park on Saturday via public transport, Mr Minns said: “I’m sure people will be rocking out”.