‘Gaga land’: NSW Premier Chris Minns unleashes at Ben Fordham over train strikes as commuters face fifth day of uncertainty

NSW Premier Chris Minns has unleashed on a popular radio host amid a long-running dispute with the rail union as commuters face a fifth day of confusion.

There is uncertainty around train services in Sydney on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

NSW Premier Chris Minns has unleashed on a popular radio presenter over the ongoing dispute with the rail union he branded as a “completely outrageous industrial blackmail of Sydney”.

About 4000 services were cancelled or delayed between Friday and Sunday, with more than 300 axed on Monday in an ongoing dispute between the NSW government and rail unions.

Mr Minns got stuck into 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Tuesday morning after the radio host suggested he fire 15,000 rail workers in a bid to solve the long-running dispute.

“Listen to this as a suggestion, we’ve got hundreds of thousands of people that need to use the public transport system … what you’re suggesting is we get 15,000 workers from, where?” Mr Minns said, before Fordham replied “Well you tell me”.

“No, you tell me, this is your idea,” Mr Minns said.

Commuters face another day of uncertainty on Sydney trains on Tuesday as the industrial dispute continues. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

When Fordham suggested bringing in another workforce, Mr Minns questioned where they would then come from.

“Well I don’t know—” Fordham said, before Mr Minns cut him off.

“Okay, there you go,” he said.

“Unless I’m in gaga land, no, I don’t believe sacking 15,000 workers this morning and replacing them with a hypothetical workforce, from where, is going to solve the dispute.

“What I do think will work is our application in the Fair Work Commission tomorrow to end what I regard as completely outrageous industrial blackmail of Sydney.”

Mr Minns said he was not “giving in”.

“The truth is I could end this dispute,” he said.

“I could give a blank cheque to the union this afternoon. That would probably be in the interest of the Labor Party, but it would not be in the interest of NSW.”

He said “everything (was) on the table” following Wednesday’s Fair Work Commission (FWC) case, which was scheduled after the body ruled against the NSW state government’s 418 application seeking orders to prevent unprotected industrial action on Sunday.

“Everything’s on the table pending the outcome of the case tomorrow — I’m not going to rule anything out, including going to the Prime Minister,” Mr Minns said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns called the industrial action ‘ridiculous’. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said while speaking on ABC Radio on Tuesday morning that the union had to acknowledge it was “alienating people” through their action.

“Common sense has to apply here, and I think that the union needs to acknowledge that it is alienating people through these actions of not turning up to work,” Mr Albanese said.

“And there was hope on the weekend that it would be settled and it should have been.”

Nearly 200 Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink train drivers and guards didn’t report for their usual shifts as of 5am Monday, after 1525 failed to report for work between Friday and Sunday.

Disruptions appeared to have stabilised early Tuesday, with just 115 Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink train drivers and guards not turning up to work as of 5am with no cancellations.

“Passengers are still advised to plan ahead and allow extra travel time as there may be disruption over the course of the day due to industrial action,” a Transport for NSW (TfNSW) spokesman said on Monday.

“Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink apologise to our passengers once again for the ongoing disruption and thank our staff who are working hard to minimise the impacts of industrial action.”

Sydney Trains chief executive officer Matt Longland earlier told reporters the Commission found there was no evidence Friday’s disruption was caused by the Union as deputy president Thomas Roberts was looking for a pattern of behaviour.

In a furious press conference on Monday, Mr Minns said the government “cannot give in to the union blackmail of the NSW government” despite “significant” disruptions.

A Fair Work Commission hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. Picture: Newswire/ Gaye Gerard

“If we were to hand over a blank cheque, if we were to continue endless negotiations, or even pay heed and accept the latest harebrained idea from the union, it would mean more industrial disruptions,” Mr Minns said at a press conference on Monday.

“It might be in three months, or six months or 12 months, but it would only embolden them, and you’d have more disruptions on our railways.”

He said he’d looked on at some of the things union officials were saying “in an incredulous way”.

He said he hoped the Fair Work Commission would step in and “end this circus”, but that the government had backup plans.

“We are on the side of commuters here … it’s very reasonable for me to say I could solve this dispute this afternoon by handing over a blank cheque to the union and agreeing to their latest outrageous claims, but it wouldn’t solve it permanently,” Mr Minns said.

He said he thought the union were “trying to play us all for mugs” andhad not negotiated in good faith over the past nine months.

Mr Minns said he was not willing to negotiate on a fresh union demand for an extra $4500 cash payment, which Mr Minns said had arrived suddenly towards the end of negotiations.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union secretary Toby Warnes said Monday’s “rhetoric” from the Premier “certainly doesn’t help the situation”.

“I think the Premier needs to understand that the things he says are listened to by people, even if they’re not real. And it’s a pity that he’s decided to escalate rather than actually get in and solve this dispute,” Mr Warnes said on Today.

Mr Warnes denied Mr Minns’ claims the union was using “blackmail”, and said he didn’t think the Premier knew what “blackmail” was.

“That was a very, very odd statement … We’re one small payment away from reaching a deal. We should have reached a deal last Thursday. But once again, the NSW government threw its toys out of the cot and walked away from the negotiating table,” he said.

NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union secretary Toby Warnes said on Monday Mr Minns’ claims of possible future industrial action was ‘complete nonsense’. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

He earlier said the union could “guarantee” it would not launch industrial action in six months if it got what it wanted from the government.

“The government said that if it gave us a ‘blank cheque’ we’d be back in six months with more demands, that’s not how Enterprise Agreements work,” he said.

“The EA locks you in for a period of time to bargain, right now we’re talking about three years – we’ve said we’re open to a period of four years.

“If you come to the party with the little bit that is left in this bargain, then we can guarantee you that we will not come back with any demands until the end of the Enterprise Agreement. “So, this idea of us coming back in six months is complete nonsense and I can tell the people of NSW that we will not be coming back with new demands in six months.

“The NSW government is responsible for the uncertainty we experienced on Friday and it will be responsible for any uncertainty we experience this week.

“The NSW government has the ability to ensure train services run smoothly this week. We’re urging them to give commuters certainty and not to deliberately disrupt the network.”

He urged the government to come back to the negotiating table and to stop “threats to lock out workers and dock their pay”.

More to come

Originally published as ‘Gaga land’: NSW Premier Chris Minns unleashes at Ben Fordham over train strikes as commuters face fifth day of uncertainty