New Year’s commuter chaos on cards as transport union votes for further action

Sydney New Year’s Eve plans could be thrown into jeopardy after Rail, Tram & Bus Union (RTBU) members overwhelmingly voted for another round of industrial action from December 28.

Soon after the legal sparring between Sydney Trains and the rail union concluded in the Federal Court on Monday, 75 per cent of members voted to continue the dispute with the government as a wages deal remains elusive.

New Year’s Eve transport plans are under threat for Sydney revellers.Credit: Kate Geraghty

The protracted industrial impasse brought Sydney to the precipice of a shutdown in late November. Union demands for a 32 per cent pay rise over four years is far removed from the government’s current three-year offer of 9.5 per cent plus super.

A RTBU source told this masthead on Monday that members had voted by an overwhelming margin to continue their campaign. The protected industrial action is near identical to the union’s previous activity, which included train cancellations, delays and skipped stops.

The bans could wreak havoc for New Year’s Eve revellers. About one million people packed onto the Sydney Harbour foreshore for midnight fireworks last year.

A NSW government spokesman foreshadowed further legal action, saying the “Rail Unions should not be stopping New Years Eve for the entire city”.

“This matter is currently before the Federal Court. We await that decision,” he said.

“The NSW government has a range of legal options available, and we’ll be doing everything we can to minimise and protect commuters and businesses from disruption.”

Throughout Monday, barristers for Sydney Trains and the RTBU jousted over a technical argument about whether the union’s industrial action – successfully blocked by the Minns government in the Federal Court on December 8 — was valid.

In court, the RTBU had sought to reinstate a limit on the distance each driver or guard could travel each day if a wages deal could not be landed.

According to Coalition analysis, under the proposed protected industrial action to recommence on December 28, shift limits for suburban and intercity staff would incrementally decline to nearly half their normal 217-kilometre maximum by January 1.

New Years Eve celebrations could be hampered by industrial action by rail workers.Credit: Max Mason-Hubers

On Sunday, Premier Chris Minns said an agreement had not been reached between the parties despite “exhaustive negotiations”. The decision to seek a court order blocking the action was decried by the union, who accused the government of derailing negotiations that had been progressing well.

“From our perspective, everything was heading in the right direction, but unfortunately all the good work has now been blown up,” RTBU NSW secretary Toby Warnes said.

Even if the RTBU were handed an adverse decision by Justice Michael Wheelahan, the fresh round of industrial action could recommence on December 28. The judgment is expected this week.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen was contacted for comment.

In a circular distributed to members on Monday afternoon, the RTBU accused the government of manipulating changes to the Fair Work Act to “prevent workers from exercising their legal right to take industrial action during bargaining”.

“The Minns government’s actions in court today are another example of the NSW government’s attempts to curtail and squash the rights of workers to take protected industrial action, putting unlimited power into the hands of employers,” the circular stated.

Shadow transport minister Natalie Ward accused the government of bungling negotiations “from day one”, saying commuters would bear the brunt of the breakdown in negotiations, with industrial action over New Years “very much on the table”.

“Limited or no services appear to be very much on the table over summer and on New Years Eve,” she said.

“This has been going on since May 2024 and still at the end of December the government can’t say what will happen next – who is in control?”

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