This shutdown will turn Pearl Jam into traffic jam, and commuters will play the blame game

The one-time Liberal transport minister David Elliott used to boast about his collegial relationship with the all-powerful Rail, Tram and Bus Union. Remember, this was the minister who infuriated his former boss, Dominic Perrottet, by insisting his bedtime was more important than staying up to make sure a bitter train dispute did not escalate. (It did.) So, Elliott was not an obvious friend of the unions.

Elliott accused rail workers in early 2022 of “industrial bastardry” when they threatened strike action just a month after he described a shutdown of the network as “terrorist-like activity”. It swiftly emerged that it was, in fact, Elliott’s own government that made the decision (while he was asleep) to shut down Sydney’s railway for a day.

NSW Minister for Transport Jo Haylen is struggling to resolve a dispute with the rail union before a planned shutdown on Friday.Credit: Illustration: Monique Westermann

Nonetheless, he liked to brag that he could drag everyone around a table, negotiate and deliver results. Turns out Elliott was not all bluster, after all. As Sydney faces an unprecedented rail shutdown from Friday morning, stretching across the weekend, rail union bosses are longing for the old days of a conservative government.

Speaking to Sky’s Laura Jayes on Wednesday, the RBTU NSW secretary, Toby Warnes, said it was easier to negotiate with Elliott than his Labor successor, Jo Haylen. Others in the union movement are saying the same. Haylen maintains that meetings and discussions have been plentiful as they try to land a pay deal. Warnes says Elliott’s door was always open, while Haylen’s is not.

Industrial stoushes inevitably get nasty. But there is a nastier undertone to this battle between NSW Labor and the train workers, not least because the impasse will shut down the city and cause widespread disruption for a million people a day.

Former Liberal transport minister David Elliott.Credit: Nick Moir

From first thing Friday, Sydney will be brought to a standstill. Every suburban train will stop running, from the T1 North Shore and Western line to the T9 Northern line. And it gets worse. The driverless Metro will also be out of action for some of the weekend as part of the upgrade of the Sydenham to Bankstown line.

The impact will be massive. Commute to school or work by train? Scrap that on Friday. Heading to Sydney Olympic Park with 30,000 others for the Pearl Jam concert on Saturday? Transport NSW secretary Josh Murray suggests booking a parking spot. I suggest taking a toilet stop before you leave because the chaos in those parking stations will be hell on earth after the show. Then there are four football matches at Allianz Stadium over Friday and Saturday nights. With no trains, fans will have to make their own way to Moore Park.

No one wants to take the blame for the deadlock but if the escalating dispute cannot be resolved, the shutdown will last until early Sunday morning. Warnes says the shutdown is unnecessary. “This does seem to be a significant overreaction, and that overreaction does seem to be at the expense of the commuters of Sydney,” he said.

Haylen, meanwhile, says the RBTU leaves the government with no choice. They have two bans under way: a restriction on the distance train crews can travel, which hurts commuters on the intercity lines to Newcastle and Wollongong. But the one that is really causing the government grief is the union’s insistence that trains run 24 hours a day, or else they will walk.

Warnes said on Wednesday that workers have always wanted trains to run non-stop. So do the likes of Business Sydney executive Paul Nicolaou, who thinks trains should operate around the clock. The union, of course, should not be dictating policy, but the 24-hour push is more about pain being inflicted on the government than servicing travellers at 3am. It is its best lever.

Haylen likens the union to a boa constrictor strangling the network until they “eventually squeeze the life out” of it. The RBTU wasted no time in redesigning its logo with a snake around a train. The minister and Premier Chris Minns met the rail union late on Wednesday. A resolution was wishful thinking. Nothing was agreed and they will meet again on Thursday.

The government has not budged on its offer (3.5 per cent in the first year, and then 3 per cent in the following years) while the union wants 8 per cent a year. You would expect a landing spot somewhere in the middle but, at the moment, it is a game of chicken.

Warnes was asked whether Haylen should she be dumped as minister. No, was his response, but there is deepening frustration with her. Elliott was known as the Coalition’s bomb-thrower – a role he relished – but according to the union, he was also prepared to get his hands dirty. Haylen has to do the same, or she will have millions of angry train travellers on her hands.

Alexandra Smith is state political editor.