Commuters face more disruptions after NSW government fails to stop industrial action

Commuters will face another day of disruption after the workplace umpire rejected a bid from the NSW government to temporarily stop industrial action on Sydney’s public transport network.

Thousands of rail workers are set to continue their industrial action on Wednesday following the interim decision by the Fair Work Commission on Tuesday afternoon. The state’s rail network is expected to only be running at half its usual capacity on Wednesday.

Industrial action last Friday resulted in delays, cancellations and crowding on some trains.Credit: Janie Barrett

The Rail Tram and Bus Union made some concessions at Tuesday’s hearing, agreeing to limit the impact of the action on the rail network by staffing a larger number of foreign-built trains than they originally planned.

The government had warned Fair Work that the industrial action risked taking a toll on the state economy and blowing out the cost of a new metro rail line in Sydney by almost $250 million.

Rail Tram and Bus Union state secretary Alex Claassens welcomed the Fair Work decision and described the government’s actions throughout the dispute as “incredibly disappointing”.

Claassens said the union had already moved to ensure more train services than previously planned could operate on Wednesday and Friday. “The planned actions will continue, but commuters are unlikely to notice any impact at all,” he said.

However, early estimates on Tuesday evening suggested the state’s rail network would be running at 50 per cent capacity on Wednesday as the government scrambled to add extra trains into the system at late notice.

Transport for NSW chief operations officer Howard Collins said people should avoid public transport if possible on Wednesday, while the government hoped to have 60 per cent of services running by Friday.

“We expect ... to add in more services, but the advice still is if you don’t have to travel [on Wednesday], please avoid travelling on public transport,” he said.

Roads Minister Natalie Ward, who is filling in for Transport Minister David Elliott while he is on leave, welcomed the concessions by the union to allow some more trains to operate on the network, but said ongoing industrial action would continue to cause disruptions.

Rail workers had previously planned to again refuse to operate all foreign-built trains, which comprise about 75 per cent of the state’s fleet, on Wednesday and Friday.

Both sides will return to Fair Work on Thursday for a full hearing.

Premier Dominic Perrottet earlier said the government’s decision to launch legal action in the Fair Work Commission was “not made lightly”, adding that it was the “only way” to resolve the dispute and put a stop to the industrial action by rail workers. “Anything we can do to cease that industrial action we will,” he said.

Perrottet said the RTBU’s unwillingness to accept the government’s offer last week to modify the new intercity train fleet at a cost of $264 million had been “incredibly frustrating”.

“This matter needs to be resolved. I’ve said numerous times … that I want those trains on the tracks as quickly as possible, and I’ll do everything I can to achieve that end,” he said.

The rail union wants the government to sign a deed guaranteeing that it will modify the new train fleet to address safety concerns before agreeing to settle wider claims over pay and conditions. However, the government wants both issues dealt with together.

The government on Monday launched legal proceedings in Fair Work after negotiations with rail workers again broke down over the weekend amid warnings of further industrial action this week.

Government documents filed with the commission estimated that the industrial action will cause a “significant” loss to the NSW economy and increase the cost of the Sydney Metro City & Southwest rail line by $246 million.

An affidavit from a senior NSW Treasury official estimates that industrial action by rail workers last week cost the economy $68 million.

Treasury’s calculations are based on each commuter losing an average of 12 minutes of productive time each day from delayed trains as result of the industrial action.

However, lawyer Lucy Saunders, who acted for the unions, told the hearing on Tuesday that the 12-minute delays to trains modelled by the government were “hardly going to cripple economic activity”.

An affidavit from a senior Sydney Metro executive also outlined a range of scenarios for the rail project if industrial action by members of the CEPU continued for months, warning that further delays could see costs escalate by more than $1 billion.

Last Friday, commuters were caught in the crossfire between the two sides as they faced the worst disruption on the city’s public transport network since February when the government shut down the entire rail system for 24 hours.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.