Disruptions to Sydney’s rail network from Thursday as rail workers vote to strike

Sydney will face commuter chaos from Thursday after an RTBU ballot found as few as five per cent voted against strike action.

Monday’s train strike will go ahead after an RTBU ballot found as few as five per cent voted against carrying on with the strike, as NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance warns of major disruptions to Sydney’s rail network from tomorrow.

With the validity of a vote by drivers to call off Monday’s train strike being questioned after scores of workers said they hadn’t received an automated text ballot, Mr Constance said commuters should prepare for problems from peak hour tomorrow morning as an indefinite ban on overtime begins on Thursday.

He said trains will operate on a Saturday schedule, cutting services across the state on Thursday and Australia Day on Friday.

“Tomorrow is going to be disruptive,” he said this morning.

Services will be cut from 2900 during weekdays to 1600, due to industrial action placing an indefinite ban on overtime.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian is urging commuters to check timetables and to avoid travelling during peak hour.

The union initially wanted a six per cent pay rise and improved conditions, with members now considering a 2.75 per cent increase as part of a package including free bus travel and a one-off $1000 payment.

Only 5.93 per cent of members - about 360 - supported calling off the industrial action over pay and conditions via a mobile phone survey on Wednesday. “Unfortunately my members have overwhelmingly decided that the offer on the table is nowhere near good enough and our industrial action will continue,” RTBU NSW Secretary Alex Claassens said.

However, he would not elaborate on how many voted No when pressed by media. The union sent a text message to more than 6100 members on Tuesday night, asking whether the latest offer from rail management was good enough to cancel Monday’s strike and a ban on overtime starting on Thursday.

Transport Minister Andrew Constance. Picture: David Swift.

Workers were required to reply Yes to call off the strike, with a non-reply counted as a No vote by the midday Wednesday deadline.

Earlier, there was pessimism within government ranks over the union ballot after staff complained that they had not received an SMS message required to vote Yes to call off the strike.

There was also concern that the fact the RTBU is saying that a failure to respond to the text will count as a No vote to calling off the strike, could have skewed the results.

The RTBU has sent out a Facebook message this morning saying: “If you did not receive an SMS last night, please contact the office this morning. Your SMS will be reissued against your individual membership record to make sure everyone only gets one vote.

“Update: thank you for your patience. Due to the large number of texts sent last night we understand that some have not reached members. If you receive an ‘RTBU reissue’ SMS, it is to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to vote.

“Each member will only get one vote as it will record against your individual membership record using the number we have on file. That is where the final report on votes will be generated from.”

The government is expected to now go to the Fair Work Commission to attempt to stop the strike

With AAP